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Tobias

Greek from Hebrew
"God is good"
Madison Dresler
By Madison Dresler
Updated Tue Jul 01 2025

Tobias Origin and Meaning

The name Tobias is a boy's name of Hebrew, Greek origin meaning "God is good".

Tobias is one of a number of s-ending boys' names that are riding a wave of popularity. With its Old Testament-Dickensian feel, it's a name with a distinguished pedigree.

Tobias is the Greek form of the Hebrew Tobiah, which was derived from the name Toviyah. Toviyah was created from the elements tov, meaning "good" and yah, representing the Hebrew God. Tobias is the name of several biblical figures but is primarily associated with the story of Tobias and the Angel.

A contemporary bearer is Tobias Wolff, author of A Boy's Life. Tobias Smollett was a major eighteenth century Scottish novelist. Tobias Snape, meanwhile, is a Harry Potter character.

The short form Toby has a life of its own, used independently at least as far back as Shakespeare's time, with Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. Toby also was the name of a character on The West Wing. Actor Tobey Maguire was born Tobias and named his son Otis Tobias.

There is also the rarely used but still viable daddy of them all --Tobiah, the name of a rebel Hebrew king

# 280 in the US

Tobias Rank in US Top 1000

# 104 on Nameberry

Tobias Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Tobias

20 Names Similar to Tobias

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Tobias.

Famous People Named Tobias

  • Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff
    American novelist
  • Tobias George Smollett
    Scottish novelist and poet
  • Tobias Vincent "Tobey" Maguire
    American actor
  • Tobias John Harris
    American basketball player
  • Tobias Matthew
    English Archbishop of York
  • Tobias Kamke
    German tennis player
  • Tobias Michel Karel Asser
    Dutch lawyer, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Tobias Furneaux
    English navigator
  • (Glenn) Tobias Hysén
    Swedish footballer
  • Tobias "Theo" Leendert Bamberg
    Dutch magician
  • Tobias Menzes
    English actor
  • Tobias Moretti
    Austrian actor
  • Tobias Joseph "Toby" Turner aka Tobuscus
    American YouTuber
  • Tobias MacDonald Jesso Jr.
    Canadian musician
  • Tobias Söderberg (b. 2010)
    son of biathlete Uschi Disl and Tomas Söderberg
  • Tobias Del Piero (b. 2010)
    son of footballer Alessandro Del Piero
  • Tobias Dirks (b. 2015)
    son of surfer Bethany Hamilton
  • Otis Tobias Maguire
    son of American actor Tobey Maguire
  • Tobias Forge
    frontman of Swedish heavy metal band Ghost

The name Tobias in Pop Culture

  • Tobias Wilson
    fictional character on the animated show "The Amazing World of Gumball"
  • Tobias Fornell
    FBI agent that helps with cases on "NCIS"; Gibbs' friend
  • Tobias "Four" Eaton
    character in the Divergent trilogy
  • Tobias Funke
    character on TV's "Arrested Development"
  • Tobias "Toby" Ziegler
    character on TV's "The West Wing"
  • Tobias Ragg
    character in musical "Sweeney Todd"
  • Tobias
    character in the Animorphs books by K. A. Applegate
  • Tobias Hankel
    character on TV's "Criminal Minds"
  • Tobias (Toby)
    Dancing Through the Snow
  • Tobias Beecher
    a character on TV's "Oz"
  • Tobias "Toby" Isaacs
    character on TV's "Degrassi: The Next Generation"
  • Tobias Snape
    Severus Snape's father in the Harry Potter series
  • Tobias
    character in the Main Street Series
  • Tobias "Toby" Kennish
    character on TV's "Switched at Birth"
  • Tobias Herondale
    mentioned in "The Lost Herondale" by Cassandra Clare
  • Tobias Church
    character on The CW's "Arrow"
  • Tobias "Toby" Domzalski
    character in the Netflix series "Trollhunters"
  • Tobias Beckett
    character in the 2018 Star Wars Film "Solo: A Star Wars Story" Tobias Beckett was portrayed by Woody Harrelson

International Variations of the name Tobias

  • Tevye
    Hebrew
  • Teive
    Yiddish
  • Tubia
    Yiddish

The name Tobias in Nameberry Forums