Bob

Did you know?

A few things about Bob you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Bob

Bob Hope

American entertainer (1903–2003)

Choose Bob and your child shares a first name with Bob Hope, an American entertainer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Bob, like who?” Bob Hope's Wikipedia article is available in 82 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Bob Hope on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: NBC Television, Public domain (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 243,902 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Bob, 7 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Bob would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryBob has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Bobs, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1934, when it ranked #75. Today it's #9,714, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowBob was 3.9× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 63,291 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 243,902.
• 🍂TrendBob has slipped 3,094 places over the last five years and now sits at #9,714. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 💬MeaningBob is an English form of Robert, which means “bright fame”.
• 🔁Word funBob is a palindrome: it reads the same forwards and backwards.

About the name Bob

Bob is a boy name of English origin meaning “bright fame”. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with B and ending in “-bob”. US birth records list Bob for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 145 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1934, when it ranked #75 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #9,714, with 7 babies.

Origin:English names