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Joby

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

(God) shall add, through Joseph

Joby has been given to 1,242 babies in the U.S. since 1939. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1977, with 37 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Joby, 2024

1 in 334,000

Joby over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Joby over time

In 2024, Joby went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19392024

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Joby: meaning, origin, and history

(God) shall add, through Joseph

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Joby means

Joby belongs to the name family reached through Joby → Joseph. Its meaning is “(God) shall add”.

Origin, language, and formation

Joby is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Joseph.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,174 boys were recorded with the name Joby between 1939 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 37 in 1977; its best national rank was #1,485 in 1972.

In the United States, 68 girls were recorded with the name Joby between 1956 and 1976. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1973; its best national rank was #5,329 in 1973.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Joby?

Joby had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024
1 in 334,000
10 of 3,342,801 births
Among boys only
1 in 172,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2024
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
231,706 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Joby sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2024 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 231,706 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Joby. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jobys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Joby was born before 1982 — so the typical Joby is around 43 today.

Median birth year
1982
About 43 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
24.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
23.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,154
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 24.5% of all recorded uses (288).

Is Joby rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1977 (37)
Years since peak
48
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,485
1972

Spellings of Joby

Joby is not the most common spelling — John is, with 58.8% against Joby's 0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Joby is used

Across 1910–2025, Joby was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,303,425 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Louisiana1 in —
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in —
  4. 4Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Joby has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Joby around the world

Where Joby ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,440
    in 2025
  • France
    1958–1972
    #1,649
    in 1972
  • South Australia
    1972–2001
    #581
    in 2001

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Joby by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,485
1972
Peak year
1977
37 that year
First recorded
1939
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
1,174
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,329
1973
Peak year
1973
10 that year
First recorded
1956
Last recorded
1976
All-time count
68
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Joby

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JobeJobRobyKobyJobieJakobyCobyBobyJobanyJobaniJobinTobyJacobyHobyJobanJobeyJobenJobannyJobiObyJobariJocoby

Sibling names for Joby

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Joby

Top names of 1977, Joby's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1972Boys' names starting with J