Bobby History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Bobby

What does the name Bobby mean?

The ancient roots of the Bobby family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Bobby comes from when the family lived in two distinct parishes in the county of Lincolnshire, each named Boothby.

Early Origins of the Bobby family

The surname Bobby was first found in Lincolnshire, where the name is associated with three locations called Boothby. Hugo de Boebi, also recorded as de Bothebi, was registered in Lincolnshire in 1190. During the Middle Ages the family in Lincolnshire included several prominent landholders, such as Osbert de Boby who was recorded there during the reign of King Henry III. Hugo de Bobi, Emma de Boby, and Walter de Boby were all registered in the county in 1273. 1

Early History of the Bobby family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bobby research. Another 164 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1500 and 1786 are included under the topic Early Bobby History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bobby Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Bobby has appeared include Bobby, Boebi, Bothebi, Boby, Bobi, Bobie, Bobbie and others.

Early Notables of the Bobby family

More information is included under the topic Early Bobby Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bobby Ranking

In the United States, the name Bobby is the 18,799^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Bobby migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Bobby arrived in North America very early:

Bobby Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Alice Bobby, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Bobby (post 1700) +

Millie Bobby Brown (b. 2004), British Primetime Emmy Award nominated actress and producer, known for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things (2016-), and the Netflix mystery films Enola Holmes (2020 and 2022)
Leroy Bobby Stanton (1946-2019), American Major League Baseball outfielder who played from 1970 to 1978
Eddie Bobby Wheeling, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1988 4
Bobby Joe Frame Jr. (1959-2025), American politician, served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives (1997-2001)
Bobby Shew (b. 1941), is an American big band jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player
Bobby Gill (1959-2024), American professional stock car racing driver
Bobby Collins, American stand-up comedian and film actor
Bobby Lee Collins (b. 1965), American college basketball coach
Bobby Previte (b. 1951), American drummer, composer, and bandleader
Bobby Lee Eaton (1958-2021), American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express

Sources +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, April 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html