Meaning and background
The story behind Toby
Toby is an established English form of Tobias, reaching back to medieval usage. Behind the Name also records occasional twentieth-century use as a feminine name. The underlying Hebrew root is conventionally understood as “Yahweh is good”, though Toby itself is not an English dictionary word with that meaning.
- Origin
- Medieval English form of the biblical name Tobias, ultimately connected to Hebrew Tobiah. Source
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Everyday moments“Toby, come here!”
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About Toby
Recorded as a dog’s name
Toby appears in 394 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/toʊbi/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/toʊbi/ · primary stress on syllable 1T OW1 B IY0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.