Tobey
#9,615 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' nameMeaning not yet documented
Tobey has been given to 2,456 babies in the U.S. since 1924. In 2025 it ranked #9,615 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2003, with 85 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 69% boys, 31% girls all-time.
Babies named Tobey, 2025
1 in 414,000
Tobey over time, 1880–2025
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Tobey over time
In 2025, Tobey went to 0% girls and 100% boys.
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.
How common is Tobey?
Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.
- Among all babies, 2025
- 1 in 414,000
- 8 of 3,315,165 births
- Among boys only
- 1 in 213,000
- <0.01% of boys
- Rank, 2025
- #9,615
- of 13,926 boys’ names in use
- Coin-flip room size
- 287,238 kids
- Even odds of a second one
Where Tobey sits on the popularity scale
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.
Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tobey. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.
When Tobeys were born
Half of everyone ever recorded as Tobey was born before 1991 — so the typical Tobey is around 34 today.
- Biggest decade
- 2000s
- 29.2% of all use
- Born in the last 25 years
- 42.9%
- Spread across generations
- Recorded since 1950
- 1,634
- People you could plausibly meet
2000s — 29.2% of all recorded uses (495).
Is Tobey 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
- −699
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 5 years ago
- −2,626
- Places dropped
- Rank vs 10 years ago
- −5,332
- Places dropped
- Births vs 10 years ago
- 0.33×
- Fewer babies than then
- Share of its own peak
- 9.4%
- Peak was 2003 (85)
- Years since peak
- 22
- Years
- Year-to-year steadiness
- Shifting
- 22.4% average annual change
Spellings of Tobey
Tobey is not the most common spelling — Bobby is, with 26.6% against Tobey's 0.14%.
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 Tobey is used — boys
Across 1910–2025, Tobey was most concentrated in Maine — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 345,888 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1Maine1 in 100,000
- 2California1 in —
- 3Florida1 in —
- 4New York1 in —
- 5Texas1 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. Tobey has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Where Tobey is used — girls
Across 1910–2025, Tobey was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 898,359 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).
Most concentrated
- 1California1 in —
- 2Illinois1 in —
- 3Massachusetts1 in —
- 4Missouri1 in —
- 5New York1 in —
Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Tobey has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.
Tobey around the world
Where Tobey 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 & Wales2001–2025#4,275in 2025
- Scotland2005–2005#535in 2005
- Canada2002–2017#2,944in 2017
- South Australia1976–2012#514in 2012
Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.
Tobey by the numbers
The raw record for each sex the name is used for.
As a boy's name
Names similar to Tobey
Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.
Sibling names for Tobey
Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.