Bobie
A diminutive feminine name derived from Old English names meaning "bright" or "shining".
Name Census estimates that about 278 living Americans carry the first name Bobie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Bobie today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bobie births was 1936 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bobie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bobie is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bobies were born before 1969.
People living today
278
~ 1 in 1,232,929 Americans
Peak year
1936
39 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1963 SSA rank
#4,097
Tracked since 1910
Census
Bobie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 393 people with the first name Bobie, which placed it at #24,486 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,486
National first-name rank
People counted
393
393 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bobie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bobie is White at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bobie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bobie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.0% · 228
- Black or African American29.8% · 117
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 19
- Two or more races4.1% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Bobie
Bobie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 797 total registrations, 377 (47.3%) were male and 420 (52.7%) were female.
Bobie as a male name
- Ranked #4,097 in 1963
- 5 male births in 1963
- Peak: 1932 (24 births)
Bobie as a female name
- Ranked #12,031 in 1996
- 6 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1936 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bobie on both sides of the split. Of the 396 people counted with this name, 142 were male (35.9%) and 254 were female (64.1%).
Popularity
Bobie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bobie from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 289 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bobie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bobie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bobies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Bobie, while Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bobie
The name Bobie is a diminutive form of the name Robert, which has its origins in the Germanic language. Robert is derived from the Germanic elements "hrod" meaning "fame" and "berht" meaning "bright." The name Robert gained popularity during the medieval era across Europe, particularly in France and England.
In the 12th century, the diminutive form Bobie emerged as a nickname for Robert. This shortened version was commonly used as a familiar or affectionate form of the name. The earliest recorded instances of the name Bobie can be found in medieval English and French documents.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Bobie was Bobie de Montfort, a French nobleman who lived in the late 12th century. He was a member of the prominent Montfort family and participated in the Third Crusade alongside King Richard the Lionheart.
In the 15th century, Bobie Kendall was an English landowner and nobleman from Derbyshire. He is mentioned in various historical records related to property disputes and legal matters during that time.
During the Renaissance era, Bobie Tiziano was an Italian painter and artist who lived in Venice in the 16th century. He was a student of the renowned painter Titian and is known for his portraits and religious works.
In the 17th century, Bobie Wren was an English architect and mathematician. He is best known for his contributions to the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666, including the design of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Another notable figure was Bobie Garrick, an English actor and playwright who lived in the 18th century. He was a leading figure in the British theater scene and helped popularize the works of Shakespeare through his performances and adaptations.
While Bobie was a common nickname and diminutive form of Robert in the past, its usage as a standalone given name has declined in modern times. However, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of historical names and serves as a reminder of the cultural and linguistic influences that have shaped naming traditions over the centuries.
People
Bobie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bobie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bobie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bobie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 278 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bobie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,232,929 US residents.
Is Bobie a common name?
We classify Bobie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 797 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bobie most popular?
The single biggest year for Bobie was 1936, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bobie is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bobie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 393 people with the name Bobie, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,486 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bobie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bobie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bobie on both sides of the split. Of the 396 people counted with this name, 142 were male (35.9%) and 254 were female (64.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bobie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bobie is White at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bobie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bobie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.0% (228 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bobie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bobie a female name?
Yes, 52.7% of people registered as Bobie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bobie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bobie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bobie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Bobie as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Bobie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.