Bob
Bob is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 7 births. Its best rank was 75th, in 1934.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 70.00% of boys
- Peak year
- 19592,826 births
- Best rank
- #75in 1934
- Since 1880
- 92,978people given the name
The story in the numbers
92,978 boys have been named Bob in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1959, with 2,826 births — 0.13% of all boys recorded that year.
The name has all but left use: 7 births in 2024, against 2,826 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1942, and the 1930s alone account for 25%. It has spent 104 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 14 of them in the top 100.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Bob | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 569 | |
| 1890s | 548 | |
| 1900s | 681 | |
| 1910s | 2,678 | |
| 1920s | 13,691 | |
| 1930s | 23,293 | |
| 1940s | 21,376 | |
| 1950s | 12,901 | |
| 1960s | 13,789 | |
| 1970s | 1,984 | |
| 1980s | 751 | |
| 1990s | 367 | |
| 2000s | 183 | |
| 2010s | 134 | |
| 2020s | 33 |
In 1959, its biggest year
Bob was the 128th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1959 were Michael, David, James, John and Robert. See all of 1959.
Names that rose and fell with Bob
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Billpeak 1947
- Donpeak 1946
- Genepeak 1937
- Dickpeak 1934
- Jimmiepeak 1934
- Donaldpeak 1934
- Buddypeak 1935
- Deraldpeak 1929
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.