The Tobey surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,756 people carried this name — #8,732 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 78,700 people counted. That is up 5% from 3,582 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Tobey surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Tobias’.

An early record he cites: Thomas Toby, Somerset, 1327–28 (1 Edward III) — Kirby's Quest (Somerset).

His entry covers Toby and Tobey.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 755 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

81 families named Tobey, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 522 people lived in those households, 6.4 to a family on average. The table counts it together with one other spelling. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 46
Maine 17
Connecticut 7
New York 4
Vermont 3
Maryland 3
New Hampshire 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 265 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Tobey in American newspapers,
1899–1921.

Newspaper page from The White Pine News carrying the name Tobey
The White Pine News 1907-04-03
Newspaper page from The Bucyrus Evening Telegraph carrying the name Tobey
The Bucyrus Evening Telegraph 1921-02-14
Newspaper page from Omaha Daily Bee carrying the name Tobey
Omaha Daily Bee 1899-11-08

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 51,917 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Tobey in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1950s.

426 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tobey. The most, 90, date from the 1910s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 209
Queensland 69
Victoria 53
South Australia 51
Western Australia 22
Tasmania 16

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tobey.

Who carried it

People named Tobey,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Hannah Tobey Farmer
    Hannah Tobey Farmer 1823–1891 · writer
  • Charles W. Tobey
    Charles W. Tobey 1880–1953 · politician
  • Kenneth Tobey
    Kenneth Tobey 1917–2002 · actor
  • William H. Tobey 1799–1878 · judge
  • Edward Silas Tobey 1813–1891 · businessperson
  • Mary Adeline Tobey 1860–1928

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Tobey,
in the records of 6 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States414 records

414 records of the Tobey name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 136
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 124
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 59
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 51
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 27
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 15
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 1
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Gorden J. Tobey

    Born 1920 in Massachusetts. Enlisted 1942 at Providence, Rhode Island; mechanic. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1999, buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery, Massachusetts.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Walter Tobey

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Teutonic from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 26; laborer. From Liverpool, England; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Michael James Tobey

    Born 1949; from Greenfield, Massachusetts. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 414 records for Tobey in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Australia21 records

21 records of the Tobey name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 10
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 7
  • Tasmanian Names Index 4
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Thomas Tobey

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lord Lyndoch, sailing from London in 1840. Native of Exmouth, Devon.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Fredk Tobey

    Arrived in Victoria in 1852 aboard the Thomas Lowry, aged 17; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Beatrice Tobey

    Arrived in Queensland in 1886 aboard the Duke of Westminster.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 21 records for Tobey in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada12 records

12 records of the Tobey name in Canada Nova Scotia Archives name indexes
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Warren Tobey

    Died 1950 in Inverness, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Beulah May Tobey

    Married 1946 in Truro, Colchester, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Arnold John Tobey

    Married 1946 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 12 records for Tobey in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Germany6 records

6 records of the Tobey name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Josef Tobey

    From Wormditt, Braunsberg. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 28 September 1916 (Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 1).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  2. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Fritz Tobey

    From Bartelsdorf, Pr. Eylau. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 5 September 1917.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  3. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Joseph Tobey

    From Wormditt, Braunsberg. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 7 July 1915 (Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 1).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 3 of 6 records for Tobey in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

France1 record

1 record of the Tobey name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Albert Jean Henri Tobey

    Born 1915 in Saint-Martin-d'Hères; died 2001 in La Tronche (Isère).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Netherlands1 record

1 record of the Tobey name in the Netherlands Dutch church registers before 1811
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Petrus Tobey

    Buried in 1804 in Groningen.

    Open Archives, Groninger Archieven (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Tobey.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Tobey is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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