Kobe

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Kobe: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Kobe: Recorded every year since 1997, it reached #166 in 2021, and it stood at #372 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
48times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#166highest recorded position
14groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1997–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1997	#1345
1998	#490
1999	#776
2000	#1096
2001	#654
2002	#656
2003	#586
2004	#549
2005	#535
2006	#617
2007	#731
2008	#567
2009	#589
2010	#531
2011	#464
2012	#473
2013	#475
2014	#449
2015	#506
2016	#493
2017	#661
2018	#449
2019	#356
2020	#205
2021	#231
2022	#238
2023	#254
2024	#278
2025	#372

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1997 to 2025.

In 2025: #372 among boys in England and Wales, #432 among boys in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1997–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1997
First recorded at #1345 among boys in England and Wales in 1997 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded2012–2024
Highest recorded position: #166 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 2021 (recorded 2012–2024).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #372 among boys in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Boys

Kobe appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1997, and has registered 2,427 births with the name.

Kobe across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Kobe's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#1345 (1997)	#205 (2020)	#372 (2025)	29 of 29	2,427 (1997–2025)	245 (2020)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#311 (2012)	#166 (2021)	#216 (2024)	9 of 13	70 (2012–2024)	14 (2021)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#713 (2016)	#396 (2023)	#432 (2025)	9 of 10	58 (2016–2025)	9 (2020)

Kobe by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Kobe in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	70	3 of 10	23
2000s	403	10 of 10	40
2010s	827	10 of 10	83
2020sbusiest	1,127	6 of 10	188

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 6 years of it this list covers, averaging 188 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2019 and 2020, when recorded births rose by 120, from 125 to 245.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Kobe appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1997 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #166 in Northern Ireland in 2021.

Kobe's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2025	England and Wales	male	#372	112	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#278	165	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#254	185	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#238	202	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#231	218	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#205	245	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#356	125	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#449	91	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#661	53	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#493	82	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#506	76	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#449	90	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#475	81	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#473	83	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#464	81	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#531	65	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#589	55	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#567	58	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#731	38	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#617	46	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#535	50	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#549	47	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#586	38	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#656	30	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#654	28	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#1096	13	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#776	21	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#490	40	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#1345	9	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	male	#216	9	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#169	13	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	male	#311	5	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	male	#166	14	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	male	#186	11	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	male	#418	3	High	Verified
2014	Northern Ireland	male	#398	3	High	Verified
2013	Northern Ireland	male	#244	7	High	Verified
2012	Northern Ireland	male	#311	5	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	male	#432	8	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	male	#472	7	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#396	9	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#454	7	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	male	#414	8	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#402	9	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	male	#764	3	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	male	#635	4	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#713	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#352	10	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

Where Kobe is officially recorded

4 official registrars have recorded Kobe, between 1997 and 2025. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
England and Wales	1997–2025	29	#205 in 2020
Northern Ireland	2012–2024	9	#166 in 2021
Republic of Ireland	2016–2025	9	#396 in 2023
Scotland	2024	1	#352 in 2024

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1997 and 2025, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #166, first reached in 2021.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 245 births, registered in England and Wales in 2020.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2012, and 27 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Koan · #3254, 10y
Koban · #2664, 13y
Koben · #1804, 20y
Kobey · #637, 23y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Kobi · #166, 30y
Mikolaj · #166, 31y
Caden · #165, 28y
Colby · #165, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Kobi · #166, 30y
Simran · #166, 30y
Ayesha · #165, 33y
Caden · #165, 28y

Kobe was ranked #166 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 2021. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Eddie#166
Jenson#166
Kobi#166
Martin#166
Asher#176
Austin#176
Billy#176
Cathal#176

Kobe and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Kobe without appearing here.

Kobe moved ahead of

Brooke
In 1997 they stood at #1345 and #1174 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #490 and #2901.
Erin
In 1997 they stood at #1345 and #1345 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #490 and #1642.
Ashleigh
In 2000 they stood at #1096 and #881 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2001 that had become #654 and #1595.
Graeme
In 1997 they stood at #1345 and #874 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #490 and #1367.

Moved ahead of Kobe

Hunter
In 2011 they stood at #464 and #473 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2012 that had become #473 and #238.
Cooper
In 2006 they stood at #617 and #677 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #731 and #509.
Theodore
In 2013 they stood at #244 and #343 in Northern Ireland · Boys; by 2014 that had become #398 and #184.
Hudson
In 2006 they stood at #617 and #885 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #731 and #538.

Moved the opposite way to Kobe

Aaron
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 while Aaron went from #32 to #180.
Alan
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 while Alan went from #179 to #539.
Alex
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 while Alex went from #43 to #207.
Alexander
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 while Alexander went from #16 to #40.

Moved the same way as Kobe

Albie
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 and Albie from #914 to #21.
Alfie
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 and Alfie from #92 to #16.
Alfred
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 and Alfred from #192 to #76.
Archie
Between 1997 and 2025 in England and Wales · Boys, Kobe went from #1345 to #372 and Archie from #141 to #11.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1997 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #166 in Northern Ireland in 2021. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Kobe

Kobe at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Kobe across 3 official records

Kobe by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Kobe appears in

Popularity data

Where Kobe is officially recorded

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Kobe

Kobe and the names beside it

Kobe moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kobe

Moved the opposite way to Kobe

Moved the same way as Kobe

Kobe at a glance

Kobe across 3 official records

Kobe by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Kobe appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Kobe

Kobe and the names beside it

Kobe moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Kobe

Moved the opposite way to Kobe

Moved the same way as Kobe