Spellings
Kobe or Kobi?
In the US in 2025, 70% of babies in this name family were spelled Kobe and 12% Kobi. Same name, slightly different impression: here are the figures for each spelling.
Ten years ago
Kobe already led in 2015, with 63% of the family's births; it has 73% in 2025. All spellings together, the family went from 741 to 787 births (+6%).
| Spelling | 2015 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe | 465 | 578 | +24% |
| Kobi | 42 | 59 | +40% |
| Coby | 125 | 84 | −33% |
| Koby | 109 | 66 | −39% |
How they sound
All of these spellings are said the same way: /ˈkoʊbi/ (KOH-bee). So the choice is about how it looks: it is the spelling people will read on a birth card, a name tag or an email address, and the one your child will sometimes spell out.
In France
In France in 2025: Kobe 5 births. The other spellings are not given there often enough to be counted.
Sources: Social Security Administration (SSA), Insee (France), 2025 data. How we calculate these figures.
Which spelling is yours?
The one-minute style quiz.