Obie
Obie was given to 10 boys in 2025, #8,061 among boys’ names; 4,436 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,580 Americans named Obie and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (36% of everyone recorded); the median is 58 years old and half are between 35 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Obie by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Obie mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Obie is “a diminutive of the male given name Obadiah.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Obie?
#8,061 among boys’ names, 2025
Obie fell from #5,912 in 2015 to #8,061 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 7.8 to 5.9 per million.
95 babies in 1924, the peak
Obie peaked in 1924, when 95 babies were given it (88 boys, #702 among boys’ names). The 10 births of 2025 are 11% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | #8,061 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 18 | #5,383 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 15 | #6,138 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 22 | #4,653 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 16 | #5,708 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 12 | #6,916 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 12 | #7,058 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 19 | #5,050 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 11 | #7,408 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 13 | #6,610 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (144)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 15 | #5,912 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 9 | #8,605 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 5 | #13,516 | under 0.01 |
| 2012 | 12 | #6,916 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 13 | #6,481 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 9 | #8,597 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 6 | #12,055 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 15 | #5,978 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 22 | #4,460 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 23 | #4,184 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 22 | #4,145 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 27 | #3,512 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 6 | #10,499 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 7 | #9,117 | under 0.01 |
| 2001 | 6 | #10,173 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 7 | #8,856 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 5 | #11,113 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 6 | #9,299 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 8 | #7,085 | under 0.01 |
| 1994 | 12 | #5,026 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 7 | #7,385 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 9 | #5,998 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 10 | #5,392 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 10 | #5,262 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 13 | #4,204 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 17 | #3,166 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 11 | #4,158 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 10 | #4,376 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 14 | #3,334 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 10 | #4,124 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 16 | #2,878 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 17 | #2,790 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 18 | #2,647 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 16 | #2,919 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 16 | #2,862 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 22 | #2,182 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 27 | #1,891 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 22 | #2,152 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 12 | #3,185 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 34 | #1,512 | 0.02 |
| 1973 | 27 | #1,727 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 24 | #1,859 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 33 | #1,515 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 27 | #1,687 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 26 | #1,629 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 28 | #1,496 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 25 | #1,560 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 31 | #1,392 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 24 | #1,614 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 29 | #1,479 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 29 | #1,475 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 35 | #1,331 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 27 | #1,564 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 28 | #1,542 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 30 | #1,456 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 36 | #1,298 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 47 | #1,125 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 28 | #1,501 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 39 | #1,208 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 48 | #1,092 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 38 | #1,226 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 46 | #1,076 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 52 | #979 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 43 | #1,080 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 50 | #991 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 54 | #949 | 0.03 |
| 1947 | 51 | #1,006 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 53 | #919 | 0.03 |
| 1945 | 50 | #909 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 47 | #943 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 65 | #820 | 0.05 |
| 1942 | 49 | #953 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 44 | #970 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 59 | #817 | 0.05 |
| 1939 | 43 | #968 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 49 | #904 | 0.04 |
| 1937 | 54 | #833 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 60 | #793 | 0.06 |
| 1935 | 62 | #788 | 0.06 |
| 1934 | 47 | #928 | 0.05 |
| 1933 | 52 | #863 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 63 | #808 | 0.06 |
| 1931 | 71 | #732 | 0.07 |
| 1930 | 58 | #871 | 0.05 |
| 1929 | 57 | #885 | 0.05 |
| 1928 | 62 | #840 | 0.06 |
| 1927 | 52 | #974 | 0.05 |
| 1926 | 67 | #810 | 0.06 |
| 1925 | 60 | #867 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 88 | #702 | 0.08 |
| 1923 | 77 | #748 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 69 | #815 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 69 | #830 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 79 | #735 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 76 | #736 | 0.08 |
| 1918 | 54 | #907 | 0.05 |
| 1917 | 80 | #672 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 72 | #706 | 0.08 |
| 1915 | 69 | #711 | 0.08 |
| 1914 | 56 | #686 | 0.09 |
| 1913 | 42 | #719 | 0.08 |
| 1912 | 58 | #520 | 0.13 |
| 1911 | 26 | #604 | 0.12 |
| 1910 | 23 | #613 | 0.12 |
| 1909 | 16 | #703 | 0.10 |
| 1908 | 16 | #676 | 0.10 |
| 1907 | 24 | #483 | 0.16 |
| 1906 | 14 | #671 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 21 | #503 | 0.16 |
| 1904 | 17 | #554 | 0.13 |
| 1903 | 17 | #544 | 0.14 |
| 1902 | 11 | #719 | 0.09 |
| 1901 | 11 | #669 | 0.10 |
| 1900 | 15 | #669 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 17 | #468 | 0.16 |
| 1898 | 13 | #624 | 0.11 |
| 1897 | 13 | #606 | 0.12 |
| 1896 | 13 | #622 | 0.11 |
| 1895 | 16 | #520 | 0.14 |
| 1894 | 14 | #557 | 0.12 |
| 1893 | 9 | #745 | 0.08 |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,040 | 0.05 |
| 1891 | 8 | #751 | 0.08 |
| 1890 | 9 | #721 | 0.08 |
| 1889 | 7 | #861 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 8 | #799 | 0.07 |
| 1887 | 7 | #806 | 0.07 |
| 1886 | 10 | #632 | 0.09 |
| 1885 | 7 | #817 | 0.06 |
| 1884 | 9 | #690 | 0.08 |
| 1883 | 6 | #859 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,052 | 0.04 |
| 1881 | 6 | #841 | 0.06 |
| 1880 | 9 | #670 | 0.08 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Obie a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 4,436 Americans recorded as Obie, 6% are girls and 94% boys. In 2025 it went to 10 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Obie: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Obie, and how old are they?
1,580 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 36% of the 4,436 Americans ever recorded as Obie. The median Obie alive today is 58 years old; half are between 35 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 1,493 people named Obie (89 women and girls, 1,404 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,759 born in the U.S. The Census count is 15% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 200 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 495 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 346 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 164 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 191 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 176 |
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 Obie born?
The states with the most babies named Obie are Texas, Georgia and Alabama, with 63% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Alabama is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 383 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Georgia | 283 | not ranked | 2.3× |
| Alabama | 266 | not ranked | 2.7× |
| Mississippi | 159 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Arkansas | 102 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Kentucky | 91 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 57 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Louisiana | 41 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Tennessee | 34 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Virginia | 22 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where Obie is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Obie is most over-represented in Alabama: since 1910 it was given 2.7 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 Obie with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 5,171 babies since 1880, Obie is the most given (86% of them). In 2025 it was given to 10 of their 39 babies (26%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Obie
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 Obie and names like it
- Compare Obie and ObiBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sObie peaked in 1924.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Obie since 1910.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Obie.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Obie alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with OMost given first.