Bob

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 21 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bob is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name106K records spelled Bob12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Böb, Bôb, Bòb, Bőb, ̶b̶o̶b̶

• French given name41K records spelled Bob12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, United Kingdom

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Bobi, Bob', Böb, Bõb, Bôb

• Dutch given name20K records spelled Bob9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Belgium, Germany

  Languages: Dutch, German

  Also written Bobi, Böbi, Boebi, Bōbī, Bōbi

• Polish given name11K records spelled Bob87 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Czechia, Bulgaria

  Languages: Polish, Russian, Czech

  Also written Bobby, Боб, Bobbie, Bobi, Боби

• a separate given name5.6K records spelled Bob6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain

  Also written Böb, Bớb, Bób, Bốb, Ḇôḇ

77 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bob is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, To move gently and vertically, in either a single motion or repeatedly up and down, at or near the surface of a body of water, or similar medium.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Bob är en engelsk smekform till → Robert.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In French, Diminutif anglais de Robert, germanique « gloire brillante ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In German, short form; see Bob-/Böb- and BOD/Poppo

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In Swahili, short form used from Mahboob

  as a name·African Muslim Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 145 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Bob Hopeb. 1903GBAmerican entertainer (1903–2003)
• Bob Paisleyb. 1919GBEnglish footballer and manager (1919–1996)
• Bob Doleb. 1923USAmerican politician (1923–2021)
• Bob Hastingsb. 1925USAmerican actor (1925–2014)
• Bob Cousyb. 1928USAmerican basketball player and coach (born 1928)
• Robert Shayeb. 1939USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor and film director (born 1939)
• Bob Woodwardb. 1943USAmerican investigative journalist (born 1943)
• Bob Jolesb. 1959USAmerican voice actor
• Bob Bryanb. 1978USAmerican tennis player
• Bob Morleyb. 1984AUAustralian actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 393 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bob?

We estimate roughly 52 thousand people bear Bob (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Bob have the most bearers?

Bob is most frequently recorded in Canada, where it is most often spelled bob.

How common is Bob compared with other names?

In Canada, Bob is the 223rd most common given name of 175,432 given names recorded there.

Is Bob a male or female name?

Bob is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Bob mean?

Recorded meaning: Altered short form of Robert, a later development than the common medieval forms Hob, Dob, and Nob, all of which, unlike Bob, have given rise to English surnames.