How Many People Are Named Bob?
An estimated 41,459 people in the United States have the first name Bob. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 72 years old, and Bob peaked in popularity in 1959 with 2,834 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Bob as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Bob paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Bob is overwhelmingly male, 322 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 72, Bob is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1964.
- Bob has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1930s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
41,459
About 1 in 8,267 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.7% confidence
Average Age
72
years old
Peak Year
1959
2,834 births
Total Registered
93,300
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Bob
Bob is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 93,300 total births registered, 99.7% were male.
Bob as a male name
Ranked #10,012 in 2024
7 male births in 2024
Peak: 1959 (2,826 births)
Bob as a female name
Ranked #8,103 in 1970
5 female births in 1970
Peak: 1932 (16 births)
Bob: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Bob span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1930s, when 23,399 babies were registered. Bob has declined significantly from its peak in the 1930s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Bob by Decade
How has Bob tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 569 | 569 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 548 | 548 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 681 | 681 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 2,700 | 2,678 | 22 | |
| 1920s | 13,765 | 13,691 | 74 | |
| 1930s | 23,399 | 23,293 | 106 | |
| 1940s | 21,430 | 21,376 | 54 | |
| 1950s | 12,931 | 12,901 | 30 | |
| 1960s | 13,820 | 13,789 | 31 | |
| 1970s | 1,989 | 1,984 | 5 | |
| 1980s | 751 | 751 | 0 | |
| 1990s | 367 | 367 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 183 | 183 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 134 | 134 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 33 | 33 | 0 | |
Bob by State
Birth registrations for Bob span all 50 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Illinois, Ohio. The lowest are in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware. On average, about 1,765 Bobs were registered per state.
Bob + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Bob as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Bob
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Bob: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bob?
We estimate approximately 41,459 people named Bob are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 8,267 Americans share this first name.
Is Bob a common name?
Bob is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 93,300 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Bob most popular?
Bob reached peak popularity in 1959, when 2,834 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Bob is approximately 72 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Bob a male name?
Bob is predominantly male. 99.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Bob Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Bob Smith, Bob Johnson, Bob Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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