Declining since 2002, #5,861 for boys today.
Popularity of Jobe since 1882
Babies named Jobe per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 2003, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Jobe's real moment was 1887.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 12 |
| 1890s | 6 |
| 1900s | 0 |
| 1910s | 39 |
| 1920s | 76 |
| 1930s | 42 |
| 1940s | 22 |
| 1950s | 52 |
| 1960s | 28 |
| 1970s | 112 |
| 1980s | 116 |
| 1990s | 204 |
| 2000s | 309 |
| 2010s | 226 |
| 2020s | 81 |
Meaning & origin
Jobe first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1882, the earliest year for which the Social Security Administration has data. Its peak year was 1887, placing it solidly within the 1880s as a modestly used variant of the biblical Job. Since 2002, its trajectory has been consistently falling, making it a rare choice today: in 2025, it was given to roughly 1 in 113,872 newborn boys, ranking 5,861. Despite its ancient Hebrew roots, Jobe remains a distinctly 19th-century American take on a classic name, never ranking among the top 1,000 in modern times and lacking any dominant state association.
Jobe is a variant of Job, derived from the Hebrew name Iyyov, of uncertain meaning but traditionally interpreted as "persecuted" or "hated." In the Old Testament, Job is the central figure of the Book of Job, a righteous man tested by God. The spelling Jobe emerged as an English variant, particularly in the 19th century, and gained some popularity in the United States during the 1880s.
Nicknames & variants
Variants: Job
Sibling names for Jobe
Names that share Jobe's style, for a brother or sister.
