Tobias

Fact-checked by Rebekah Wahlberg

Written by Tahirah Blanding

In this article

Tobias name meaning and origin

What does Tobias mean?

"God is good"

Tobias:

Greek and Hebrew

Tobias is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Toviah, which means "God is good." While Tobias is considered a biblical name, the character doesn't appear in all versions of the Bible – he's the hero of the Book of Tobit, which is part of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, but isn't part of the Jewish canon.

Tobias has a long history of popularity in the United States, first appearing among the top 1,000 boys' names in 1901, and again in 1906. It fell out of use for a few decades, but returned to the top 1,000 in 1965 and has been a staple there ever since. It was most popular in 2016, when it ranked No. 246.

Sources:

Hanks P., et al. 2016. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198610601.001.0001/acref-9780198610601-e-3092?rskey=eV1ajn&result=7101

U.S. Social Security Administration. Undated. Popular Baby Names. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

Popularity over time

Data not available

Tobias in pop culture

Name	Description
Tobias Beckett	Character in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story, played by Woody Harrelson
Tobias Beecher	Character on the show Oz, played by Lee Tergesen
Tobias Eaton	Character in the Divergent novels and movies
Tobias "T.C." Fornell	Character on the TV show NCIS, played by Joe Spano
Tobias Fünke	Character on the sitcom Arrested Development, played by David Cross
Tobias Wilson	Character on the cartoon The Amazing World of Gumball
Tobias "Toby" Ziegler	Character on the TV show The West Wing, played by Richard Schiff

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Famous people named Tobias

Name	Description
Tobias Barreto de Meneses	Brazilian poet and philosopher
Tobias Enstrom	Swedish former professional hockey player
Tobias Forge	Swedish musician and frontman of the rock band Ghost
Tobias Frere-Jones	American typeface designer best known for creating the Gotham and Archer fonts
Tobias Furneaux	British navigator and Royal Navy officer who accompanied James Cook on his second exploration journey
Tobias Harris	American professional basketball player
Tobias "Tobey" Maguire	American actor best known for playing Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man
Tobias Menzies	English actor best known for his roles on The Crown, for which he won an Emmy, Outlander, and Game of Thrones
Tobias Picker	American composer best known for his orchestral work Old and Lost Rivers and his opera Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tobias Pock	Austrian Baroque painter

Names similar to Tobias

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Baby name lists including Tobias

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