Obey — boys' name
16 babies named Obey in U.S. Social Security records since 1920, with the highest year being 1920. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
38% of everyone ever named Obey was born in this single decade.
6 babies were named Obey in 1920 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Obey
The Social Security Administration has registered 16 babies named Obey between 1920 and 1955, spanning 36 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Obey currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 1955. The name reached its historical peak in 1920, when 6 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Obey performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 6 births during that ten-year window. Across the 3 decades of recorded activity, Obey shows a stable profile with only moderate drift from its peak decade.
No etymological entry is currently available for Obey in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 16 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Obey at a glance
Last recorded 1955Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Obey popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1955–1920
- Peak year (1920)
- 6
- Annual births at peak — across 36 years of records
No longer in the modern top-1000 — last recorded 1955.
16 total births across 36 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1920 with 6 births in a single year.
Obey by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1920s
- 6 births that decade — 38% of Obey's all-time total
Obey decade highlights
- Peak decade 6 births
- Runner-up 5 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1920s was Obey's strongest decade
6 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 38% of all-time use.
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Keep exploring Obey
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Compare Obey side by side: Obey vs Obed Obey vs Obert Obey vs Oberon
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1920–1955 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.