Obed
Obed was given to 72 boys in 2025, #2,072 among boys’ names; 4,135 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 3,650 Americans named Obed and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (88% of everyone recorded); the median is 21 years old and half are between 12 and 32.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Obed by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Obed mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Obed is “a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.” Its etymology gives the sense “servant” (עוֹבֵד).
From Hebrew אובד or עוֹבֵד (Oved, “servant”).
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Obed?
#2,072 among boys’ names, 2025
Obed fell from #1,750 in 2015 to #2,072 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 45.9 to 42.2 per million.
137 babies in 2005, the peak
Obed peaked in 2005, when 137 boys were given it, #1,167 among boys’ names. The 72 births of 2025 are 53% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 72 | #2,072 | 42.2 |
| 2024 | 81 | #1,950 | 47.0 |
| 2023 | 84 | #1,888 | 49.1 |
| 2022 | 84 | #1,884 | 48.1 |
| 2021 | 83 | #1,864 | 47.4 |
| 2020 | 68 | #2,088 | 39.4 |
| 2019 | 68 | #2,122 | 37.9 |
| 2018 | 74 | #1,989 | 40.7 |
| 2017 | 62 | #2,181 | 33.5 |
| 2016 | 97 | #1,651 | 51.1 |
Every recorded year (115)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 88 | #1,750 | 45.9 |
| 2014 | 94 | #1,649 | 48.9 |
| 2013 | 99 | #1,576 | 52.3 |
| 2012 | 93 | #1,663 | 49.0 |
| 2011 | 100 | #1,572 | 52.7 |
| 2010 | 114 | #1,454 | 59.4 |
| 2009 | 117 | #1,441 | 59.0 |
| 2008 | 110 | #1,489 | 53.9 |
| 2007 | 118 | #1,397 | 56.9 |
| 2006 | 114 | #1,399 | 55.5 |
| 2005 | 137 | #1,167 | 68.6 |
| 2004 | 98 | #1,437 | 49.4 |
| 2003 | 95 | #1,405 | 48.1 |
| 2002 | 96 | #1,377 | 49.4 |
| 2001 | 87 | #1,434 | 44.8 |
| 2000 | 111 | #1,217 | 56.5 |
| 1999 | 71 | #1,568 | 37.0 |
| 1998 | 59 | #1,733 | 30.9 |
| 1997 | 63 | #1,620 | 33.4 |
| 1996 | 77 | #1,383 | 40.6 |
| 1995 | 58 | #1,592 | 30.5 |
| 1994 | 58 | #1,591 | 30.0 |
| 1993 | 62 | #1,502 | 31.6 |
| 1992 | 41 | #1,968 | 20.5 |
| 1991 | 64 | #1,420 | 31.7 |
| 1990 | 46 | #1,742 | 22.4 |
| 1989 | 41 | #1,845 | 20.5 |
| 1988 | 40 | #1,755 | 20.9 |
| 1987 | 37 | #1,782 | 19.8 |
| 1986 | 26 | #2,203 | 14.1 |
| 1985 | 33 | #1,826 | 17.9 |
| 1984 | 28 | #1,961 | 15.5 |
| 1983 | 28 | #1,940 | 15.6 |
| 1982 | 31 | #1,841 | 17.1 |
| 1981 | 33 | #1,753 | 18.4 |
| 1980 | 29 | #1,944 | 16.3 |
| 1979 | 31 | #1,821 | 18.0 |
| 1978 | 20 | #2,351 | 12.2 |
| 1977 | 17 | #2,626 | 10.3 |
| 1976 | 21 | #2,218 | 13.4 |
| 1975 | 15 | #2,718 | 9.6 |
| 1974 | 18 | #2,333 | 11.4 |
| 1973 | 25 | #1,809 | 16.0 |
| 1972 | 10 | #3,279 | 6.2 |
| 1971 | 13 | #2,770 | 7.4 |
| 1970 | 14 | #2,596 | 7.5 |
| 1969 | 12 | #2,646 | 6.7 |
| 1968 | 15 | #2,165 | 8.6 |
| 1967 | 15 | #2,103 | 8.6 |
| 1966 | 7 | #3,453 | 3.9 |
| 1965 | 5 | #4,284 | 2.7 |
| 1964 | 21 | #1,777 | 10.5 |
| 1963 | 12 | #2,500 | 5.9 |
| 1962 | 7 | #3,535 | 3.4 |
| 1961 | 11 | #2,653 | 5.2 |
| 1960 | 10 | #2,810 | 4.7 |
| 1959 | 13 | #2,380 | 6.1 |
| 1958 | 12 | #2,466 | 5.7 |
| 1957 | 6 | #3,854 | 2.8 |
| 1956 | 8 | #3,126 | 3.8 |
| 1955 | 9 | #2,915 | 4.4 |
| 1954 | 5 | #4,206 | 2.5 |
| 1953 | 5 | #4,197 | 2.5 |
| 1951 | 5 | #4,097 | 2.7 |
| 1950 | 8 | #2,954 | 4.5 |
| 1949 | 8 | #2,953 | 4.5 |
| 1948 | 8 | #2,945 | 4.6 |
| 1947 | 6 | #3,638 | 3.3 |
| 1946 | 10 | #2,501 | 6.2 |
| 1945 | 6 | #3,219 | 4.5 |
| 1943 | 10 | #2,511 | 7.0 |
| 1942 | 5 | #3,920 | 3.6 |
| 1941 | 10 | #2,446 | 8.1 |
| 1940 | 5 | #3,802 | 4.3 |
| 1938 | 5 | #3,892 | 4.5 |
| 1937 | 6 | #3,412 | 5.6 |
| 1936 | 9 | #2,570 | 8.7 |
| 1935 | 11 | #2,353 | 10.6 |
| 1934 | 13 | #2,092 | 12.6 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,007 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,424 | 10.5 |
| 1931 | 8 | #3,019 | 7.7 |
| 1930 | 9 | #2,941 | 8.2 |
| 1929 | 9 | #2,905 | 8.4 |
| 1928 | 8 | #3,281 | 7.2 |
| 1927 | 18 | #1,932 | 16.0 |
| 1926 | 12 | #2,520 | 10.8 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,074 | 8.1 |
| 1924 | 18 | #1,949 | 15.9 |
| 1923 | 17 | #2,002 | 15.5 |
| 1922 | 18 | #1,937 | 16.5 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,590 | 10.9 |
| 1920 | 15 | #2,195 | 14.1 |
| 1919 | 15 | #2,122 | 15.3 |
| 1918 | 16 | #2,046 | 15.8 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,668 | 10.8 |
| 1916 | 17 | #1,820 | 19.1 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,567 | 11.8 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,066 | 16.8 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,473 | 14.0 |
| 1910 | 8 | #1,278 | 41.2 |
| 1909 | 6 | #1,403 | 36.6 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,257 | 40.8 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,191 | 43.2 |
| 1880 | 6 | #883 | 54.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Obed a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Obed has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 115 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Obed: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Obed, and how old are they?
3,650 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 88% of the 4,135 Americans ever recorded as Obed. The median Obed alive today is 21 years old; half are between 12 and 32.
The 2020 Census counted 5,102 people named Obed (41 women and girls, 5,061 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,257 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 21 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 112 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 239 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 670 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,560 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,050 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Obed born?
The states with the most babies named Obed are Texas, California and Florida, with 83% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 13 | #1,458 | 2.0× |
| California | 6 | #2,391 | 1.3× |
| Florida | 5 | #2,020 | 0.7× |
| Arizona | 5 | #1,006 | 1.3× |
Where Obed is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Obed is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 2.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Obed with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Obed
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Obed and names like it
- Compare Obed and GersonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sObed peaked in 2005.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Obed since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Obed: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2005The year the most babies were named Obed.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Obed alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with OMost given first.