Given name & surname
Tobin
“The Lord is good”
Tobin is a variant of Tobias. One Hebrew interpretation is “The Lord is good.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Tobin is a variant of Tobias. One Hebrew interpretation is “The Lord is good.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Tobin is a variant of Tobias. An origin associated with Tobias is Hebrew.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Irish Tóibín, from Anglo-Norman de Saint Aubyn, from Latin Sanctus Albīnus.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1941. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Tobin is a variant of Tobias. The history of Tobias gives this family its wider story. Tobias appears in biblical tradition, giving it a longstanding religious and cultural context.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Tobin through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5,737
- 5,570 boys · 167 girls
- Most popular year
- 2013
- 163 babies
- 2025
- 37
- #3,231 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −38%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 37 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,231 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 39.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 163 in 2013. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 5,051 as a first name in 2020; 17,588 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tobin’s family of names
Tobin has a related form in Tobias. In English usage, Tobin has a conventional equivalent in the German form Tobias. In English usage, Tobin as a surname was borrowed from the Irish form Tóibín.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Tobin
- Tobin BellAmerican actor (born 1942)
- Tobin HeathAmerican soccer playerborn 1988
- Tobin J. MarksAmerican chemistborn 1944
- Tobin Esperanceamerikanischer Jazz-Bassistborn 1979
- Tobin SproutAmerican musicianborn 1955
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Tobin, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Wali
“prophet, saint”
>99% boys
Simeon
“hearkening”
>99% boys
Davin
“the beloved one” · “Beloved”
>99% boys
Daven
“Beloved” · “darling”
>99% boys
Deiniol
“God is my judge”
>99% boys
Davide
“Beloved” · “darling”
>99% boys
Thomson
“twin”
>99% boys
Davis
“the son of David”
95% boys · 5% girls