Kobe ( he, קובי, Kóbi; el, Κόμπε, Kómpe; ja, 神戸, Kōbe) is a

unisex given name A unisex name (also known as an epicene name, a gender-neutral name or an androgynous name) is a given name that is not gender-specific. Unisex names are common in the English-speaking world, especially in the United States. By contrast, some c ...

that has multiple origins and meanings. Origins include

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, Swahili, Japanese and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

origins. Alternate spellings of this name are

Coby Coby or Koby is a male and female given name, and a surname. Notable people with the name "Coby" include A *Koby Abberton (born 1979), Australian surfer *Koby Altman (born 1982), American basketball executive *Koby Arthur (born 1996), Ghanaian ...

, Koby, Kobi, Colby, and Cobe.

Origins

The first known use of the name was in Biblical times when the name "Koby" was used as a pet-name for

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

. The Hebrew meaning is rooted to the words Yakov (Jacob) meaning "

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...

(God) may protect. It can also be translated to "Supplanter", Held by the heel, leg puller and heel-grabber from the

late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...

word "Iacobus" which is rooted to the Greek lakobos (Ἰάκωβος) which is connected to the base name Jacob and used as a

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

(nickname) form for Jacob. The Swahili meaning of the name Kobe translate to "tortoise" or "turtle". The Dutch meaning is similar to the Hebrew meaning but the name is a diminutive for Jakob instead of Jacob.

Popularity

Kobe Bryant Washington Full Retouched Crop

The use of the name has spiked with the popularity of American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

, with 14,000 children being given the name over his 20-year NBA career. He was named after the Japanese dish

Kobe beef is Wagyu beef from the Tajima strain of Japanese Black cattle, raised in Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture according to rules set out by the Kobe Beef Marketing and Distribution Promotion Association. The meat is a delicacy, valued for its flavor, te ...

when his parents spotted it on a menu. Between 1985 and 1995 there were only 14 recorded births in the United States given this name. Later, there were 87 born with this name in the year of 1996 alone, the year in which Bryant was drafted into the NBA. According to the

United states social security In the United States, Social Security is the commonly used term for the Federal government of the United States, federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program and is administered by the Social Security Administration ( ...

statistics from 2000 to 2018 it has declined in popularity in the United States, starting in the top 300, but down to 574th most common name in 2018. The gender of this name is 98.02% male and 1.98% female.

People with the name "Kobe" include

(1978–2020), American basketball player *

Kobe Bufkin Kobe Bufkin (born September 21, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. High school career Bufkin played bas ...

(born 2003), American basketball player * Kobe Goossens (born 1996), Belgian cyclist *

Kobe Hetherington Kobe Hetherington (born 11 March 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Background Hetherington was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was raised in Rock ...

(born 1999), Australian rugby league footballer * Kobe Hernandez-Foster (born 2002), American soccer player *

Kobe Jones Kobe Montrell Jones (born May 18, 1998) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Mississippi State, and originally signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He has also playe ...

(born 1998), American football player *

Kobe Mutch Kobe Mutch (born 18 March 1998) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) between 2017 and 2020. Mutch, who was named in the 2016 Under 18s All-Austra ...

(born 1998), Australian rules footballer *

Kobe Paras Kobe Lorenzo Forster Paras (born September 19, 1997) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Altiri Chiba of the B2 League. Listed at and , he plays the small forward position. He has been a member of the Philippine national team and ...

(born 1997), Filipino basketball player *

Kobe Perez Kobe Emilio Perez (born April 10, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who currently plays as a Midfielder (association football), midfielder for Tormenta FC, South Georgia Tormenta in USL League One. Career High school Perez played ...

(born 1997), American soccer player *

Kobe Smith Kobe A. Smith (born June 23, 1998) is an American football defensive end for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at the South Carolina and was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted ...

(born 1998), American football player *

Kobe Tai Kobe Tai is an American pornographic actress. Pornographic film career Tai was a contract performer with Vivid Entertainment. In 2011, ''Complex'' ranked her first on its list of "The Top 50 Hottest Asian Porn Stars of All Time". Mainstream ap ...

, American pornographic actress

References

{{Authority control Given names of Greek language origin Given names Modern names of Hebrew origin Latin given names Unisex given names Swahili-language surnames English unisex given names Japanese given names

Origins

Popularity

People with the name "Kobe" include

See also

References