The story behind Bob
Borrowed from English Bob. First used to mean "dedicated driver" in 1995 campaigns by Belgisch Instituut voor de Verkeersveiligheid ("Belgian Road Safety Institute") and since 2001 also in the Netherlands. Although it was explicitly intended to be a placeholder name, it is often spelled as "BOB" or "bob" as a result of a common folk etymology interpreting it as an abbreviation for bewust onbeschonken bestuurder "deliberately unintoxicated driver".
Other language forms and explanations (2)
German entry
Borrowed from English Bob.
Romanian entry
Borrowed from English Bob.
Pronunciation
Dutch: /bɔp/
Regional pronunciation variants
- Romanian: /ˈbob/
Popularity
No verified popularity ranking has been imported yet.
Names Similar to Bob
Belle
From French belle (“beauty, beautiful”), from Latin bella. Diminutive of Isabelle and Annabelle.
- Gender
- feminine
- Syllables
- 1 syllable
- Ending
- ends E
- same syllable count
- similar length
Blue
From the German surname, Americanized from Blau or its French cognate bleu.
- Gender
- feminine
- Syllables
- 1 syllable
- Ending
- ends E
- same syllable count
- similar length
Briar
As a surname Middle English brere (“briar”).
- Gender
- neutral
- Syllables
- 2 syllables
- Ending
- ends R
- same syllable count
- similar length
Ayoub
A male given name from Arabic [in turn from Hebrew], variant of Ayyub, equivalent to English Job.
- Gender
- masculine
- Syllables
- 2 syllables
- Ending
- ends B
- same syllable count
- similar length
Ayub
From Arabic أَيُّوب (ʔayyūb). From Arabic أَيُّوب (ʔayyūb).
- Gender
- masculine
- Syllables
- 1 syllable
- Ending
- ends B
- same syllable count
- similar length
Ayyūb
Borrowed from Classical Persian اَیُّوب (ayyūb), from Arabic أَيُّوب (ʔayyūb), from Biblical Hebrew אִיּוֹב (ʾiyyōḇ).
- Gender
- masculine
- Syllables
- 1 syllable
- Ending
- ends B
- same syllable count
- similar length
Middle Names for Bob
Aaron
From Latin Aaron, from Ancient Greek Ἀαρών (Aarṓn), from Hebrew אַהֲרֹן (ʾAhărōn), of unknown meaning, possibly meaning “bearer of martyrs”, or perhaps also, or instead,…
- Gender
- masculine
- Syllables
- 2 syllables
- Ending
- ends N
- balanced syllable contrast
- good length contrast
Abby
Borrowed from English Abby in the 20th century. Borrowed from English Abby.
- Gender
- feminine
- Syllables
- 2 syllables
- Ending
- ends Y
- balanced syllable contrast
- good length contrast
Abigail
From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”). a female given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Abigail Borrowed from…
- Gender
- feminine
- Syllables
- 3 syllables
- Ending
- ends L
- balanced syllable contrast
- good length contrast
Sibling Names for Bob
Aaron
From Latin Aaron, from Ancient Greek Ἀαρών (Aarṓn), from Hebrew אַהֲרֹן (ʾAhărōn), of unknown meaning, possibly meaning “bearer of martyrs”, or perhaps also, or instead,…
- Gender
- masculine
- Syllables
- 2 syllables
- Ending
- ends N
- shared origin connection
- balanced name length
Abby
Borrowed from English Abby in the 20th century. Borrowed from English Abby.
- Gender
- feminine
- Syllables
- 2 syllables
- Ending
- ends Y
- shared origin connection
- balanced name length
Adamu
Borrowed from English Adam.
- Gender
- masculine
- Syllables
- 3 syllables
- Ending
- ends U
- shared origin connection
- balanced name length