Recorded 1900–2025 · United States
Bobby was most popular in 1935, when 7,971 American babies were given the name — ranking #45 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,157, with 207 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 324,728 people named Bobby.
Bobby first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1900, which makes it about 125 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 124 of the 126 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 324,728 American births named Bobby between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 186,869 are estimated to be alive today.
207 American babies were named Bobby in 2025, ranking #2,157 that year.
Bobby is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 205 births a year, against 337 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -39% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Bobby is a boy’s name — 3.0% of the 324,728 Americans given it were girls and 97.0% were boys. It changed hands: since 1913 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 2% girls and 98% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 186,869 Americans named Bobby are alive today — 58% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 63 years old, and half are between 48 and 74.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
English · diminutive of Robert
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Bobby on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org