Tobias
tuh-BEYE-uhs
Tobias is the Greek and Latin form of the Hebrew name Toviyyah (טוֹבִיָה), meaning “Yahweh is good” or “goodness of the Lord.” The name combines the Hebrew root tov (“good”) with the theophoric element yah, a shortened form of the divine name Yahweh.
The Greek rendering Tōbias (Τωβίας) appears in the Septuagint, the 3rd-century BCE Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.
The name achieved its principal biblical resonance through the Book of Tobit, a deuterocanonical text composed around the 2nd century BCE and accepted in Catholic and Orthodox canons.
What the name Tobias means
The book recounts the travels of young Tobias, son of the blind Tobit, who travels from Nineveh to Media accompanied by the archangel Raphael in disguise, ultimately healing his father and marrying his cousin Sarah.
The narrative became a favorite subject of European painters including Rembrandt and Verrocchio.
Literary bearers include Tobias Smollett (1721-1771), the Scottish novelist whose The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) remains a cornerstone of the 18th-century English novel, and Tobias Wolff, the contemporary American memoirist whose This Boy’s
Life (1989) was adapted into a 1993 film starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The name appears frequently in German and Scandinavian literature, where the short form Tobi is common.
Tobias has ranked within the U.S. SSA top 1000 continuously since 1976, reaching the top 300 by 2020. The name is markedly more popular in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, where it regularly appears in the top 50.
In the United Kingdom, the short form Toby has long been used independently and holds similar frequency.
Contemporary bearers include actors Tobias Menzies, known for Outlander and The Crown, and Tobey Maguire, whose given name is the short form.
US popularity over time
Numerology and symbolism
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Famous people named Tobias
Tobias - similar names
Not seeing what you want? Browse all names by origin or popularity