Tobias
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. Derived from Ancient Greek Τωβίας (Tōbías), from Hebrew טוֹבִיָּה (toviyá, literally “my good is YHWH”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Tobias (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Tobias has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 471 |
| 1999 | 382 |
| 2000 | 311 |
| 2001 | 269 |
| 2002 | 233 |
| 2003 | 233 |
| 2004 | 191 |
| 2005 | 145 |
| 2006 | 145 |
| 2007 | 102 |
| 2008 | 81 |
| 2009 | 48 |
| 2010 | 55 |
| 2011 | 31 |
| 2012 | 31 |
| 2013 | 26 |
| 2014 | 19 |
| 2015 | 20 |
| 2016 | 19 |
| 2017 | 19 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2022 | 5 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 18,568 |
| 2000 | 19,117 |
| 2001 | 19,587 |
| 2002 | 20,002 |
| 2003 | 20,574 |
| 2004 | 20,923 |
| 2005 | 21,049 |
| 2006 | 21,310 |
| 2007 | 21,416 |
| 2008 | 21,623 |
| 2009 | 21,650 |
| 2010 | 21,690 |
| 2011 | 21,693 |
| 2012 | 21,686 |
| 2013 | 21,699 |
| 2014 | 21,708 |
| 2015 | 21,729 |
| 2016 | 21,732 |
| 2017 | 21,753 |
| 2018 | 21,745 |
| 2019 | 21,754 |
| 2020 | 21,799 |
Tobias in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Tobias.Hi! My name is Tobias.
- Tobias bor i Umeå och jobbar som snickare.Tobias lives in Umeå and works as a carpenter.
- Jag ska fika med Tobias i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Tobias this afternoon.
- Tobias mamma är lärare.Tobias's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Tobias mamma is Tobias's mum. Because Tobias already ends in s, nothing is added.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Tobias
How do you pronounce Tobias in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Tobias in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Tobias mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. Derived from Ancient Greek Τωβίας (Tōbías), from Hebrew טוֹבִיָּה (toviyá, literally “my good is YHWH”).
How popular is Tobias in Sweden?
5 babies were named Tobias in 2022. In 2020, 21,799 people in Sweden had Tobias as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.