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Obed

#2,072 in 2025Boys' name

Servant

Obed has been given to 4,135 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #2,072 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2005, with 137 recorded.

Babies named Obed, 2025

1 in 46,000

Obed over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Obed: meaning, origin, and history

Servant

Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Late Latin

What Obed means

Obed means “servant”, associated with Oved.

Origin, language, and formation

Obed is used in English and Polish. Its origins include Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Late Latin.

Obed comes through Hebrew אובד.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Polish, Obed is pronounced /ˈɔ.bɛt/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,135 boys were recorded with the name Obed between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 137 in 2005; its best national rank was #883 in 1880.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,088 in 2020 to #2,072 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,750 in 2015 to #2,072 in 2025.

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 Obed?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 46,000
72 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 23,700
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,072
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
31,916 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Obed 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 2025 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 5001%

Put another way: gather 31,916 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Obed. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Obeds were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Obed was born before 2003 — so the typical Obed is around 22 today.

Median birth year
2003
About 22 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
26.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
56.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,739
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 26.2% of all recorded uses (1,083).

Is Obed 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
−122
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+16
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−322
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.82×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
52.6%
Peak was 2005 (137)
Years since peak
20
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#883
1880

Spellings of Obed

Obed is not the most common spelling — Fred is, with 34.0% against Obed's 0.41%.

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 Obed is used

Across 2016–2025, Obed was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in 10,000 boys, against 1 in 22,404 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in 100,000).

110 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in 10,000
  2. 2New Mexico1 in 14,286
  3. 3California1 in 16,667
  4. 4Florida1 in 33,333
  5. 5Georgia1 in 50,000
  6. 6Maryland1 in 50,000
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 50,000
  8. 8Arizona1 in 100,000

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.

Obed around the world

Where Obed 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
    1997–2024
    #3,255
    in 2024
  • Ireland
    2007–2007
    #527
    in 2007
  • France
    1996–2025
    #3,503
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1996–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1991–2009
    #708
    in 2009

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

Notable people named Obed

People whose public names include Obed, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Obed by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,072
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 16
Best rank ever
#883
1880
Peak year
2005
137 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,135
Count in 2025
72

Names similar to Obed

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

ObertOberonOberynObediahAbedObeObetObethObeyOber

Names with a curve like Obed

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Obed, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

GersonJacoboMarkoAjayCyAmmonBraulioElyAndreiFredyNeelBlayne

Sibling names for Obed

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 Obed

Top names of 2005, Obed's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1880Boys' names starting with O