Bobby - is it too common?

@Needanewname42 i think Bobby/boabby/willy may be a Scottish association as mentioned upthread, I’ve never heard anyone here in the SE using the word Bobby to mean your dick!
I’ve heard Corey though used as willy, so I’d never use that name 😂 every time I hear Cory/corey (rare) I think dick.

It's a fact that people make assumptions based on a name. CVs come in, and it's more likely Robert will get an interview than Bobby.

I do sometimes judge people by their names, because it can be a clue as to what their parents/upbringing were like. For example, if you met a Michael Hunt, you'd know his parents were utterly clueless.

Bobby might not be out there it's definitely likely calling a child Willy / Willie. I have a 7yo who was cracking jokes about Willy Wonka.

At least make sure they have choice should Boabie become more wide spread.

Sadly there is still huge prejudice towards names. Where we work they sometimes remove the names to try and stop it. However I have recruited in many roles and 100% know that people judge on names.
A Bobby compared to a Rob or Robert would be judged more harshly. Sad but true!

The Bobbys I know are all gypsies, live locally and are brilliant for clearing any garden waste! Lovely guys, very reliable and tidy, do a brilliant job.
Mil once said after we named Dc1 that they’d never read the news with a name like that (as though 1 - my main aim in life was to have a child who was a news reader and 2 - it is a perfectly normal mainstream name that I have heard many times before and since 😂 I love mil but she never really got that we didn’t all aspire to be great leaders or figureheads!!). Anyway, about 5 years later I saw a news correspondent with dds name and I called mil and told her, we did at least both laugh.

OP, if you want to call him Bobby call him Bobby. You don’t have to call him Robert for him to have a choice down the line, he can make that decision for himself if and when it comes to it. I hate the idea of having to choose a stuffier version of a name just because it’s ‘proper’. If you’re never planning on calling him Robert don’t put it on the birth certificate. Bobby is hardly out there!

It's a perfectly nice name. Robert is totally different name in my opinion - old fashioned and in the league of John. A bit bland.

Bobby sounds more fun than Robert and names are changing - your son can be any profession he bloody likes what's wrong with people? 😆

'Sorry straight A student you can't study law because your name is Bobby.'

That doesn't happen.

I grew up with two Bobby's both changed to Rob / Bob as they left school.
I think Robert gives more options for them to choose something that suits them.

And while Boabie might be a Glasgow/ West Central belt thing. These types of things have a habit of spreading.
It has a soft childish meaning like Willy rather than a hard meaning like Dick, ie I've never heard anyone say "hes is a Boabie" the way people say "he's a dick"

I think it's a lovely name for a boy.

I don't know anyone under age 72 named Bob or Bobby.

Bobby means willie in Scotland. That’s why people are comparing it to Dick.

How about Sebastian 😍

@LoubyLou92 Honestly, when you asked, it is common, I thought you meant is it chavvy not is it too popular.

I know 3 little Bobby/ies - all girls. For a boy I'd be going with the y ending

I don't really understand why you're asking on here.

You apparently love the name Bobby and think Robert is dated.

So, fine, call the baby Bobby.

I think it's an awful name for a man. It'd be a huge turn off for me if a date was called Bobby. Urgh.

Names definitely affect snap judgements. Especially when that’s all you have to go on, like quickly browsing through CVs or choosing who would be a good candidate to stand for your party. He might love being a Bobby, and it might suit him and his goals, but if it doesn’t then it really really won’t and leaves him no options. I actually go by my own nickname in almost every situation in my life, but I use my longer more formal name on publications, and it would make my job harder if I couldn’t.

Bobby is nicer than Bobbie. As long as you’re happy that he will probably get Bob now and then. Not everyone likes the same names, so many of the names that are suggested on these posts as alternatives to the ‘awful’ names the OP gives are terrible IMO, so don’t let anyone with a different taste put you off. Bobby is - nice name and nobody will bat an eye if you use it instead of Robert. Nobody ever asks Kate’s ‘are you really Catherine’ it’s just a non-thing.. go for it if you love it. You can’t please everyone!

I wasn’t answering whether Bobby is suitably middle-class though - I clearly said that I was responding to those that deemed Bobby childish.

Those are all footballers? Probably christened Robert. Find some judges, academics, and doctors christened Robert and they probably don’t go by Bobby professionally.

Those people who are saying Bobby is a child's name - never heard of Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton or Bobby Robson? All obviously had the given name Robert, but being known as Bobby didn't do them any harm.

Penis wasn’t the first thing that came to my mind, but it was a close second!

Absolutely. It feels like bubble wrap in the mouth and just has no substance. Anyway, each to their own. Not everyone will like my kids names (they're probably insane not to though) and we each have our preferences. I just find Bobby to be very nothingy.

It’s not as common as say Robbie but if it’s for a boy, I think that you should definitely spell it Bobby because Bobbie is for a female.

Famous Bobby… Bobby Davro (kids won’t know that one), SpongeBob, Bobby Brazier (kids won’t know that one ), Bobbie Brown (female and different spelling so not an issue) so no famous Bobby to tarnish the name. I would avoid Bobby if your surname matches a famous Bobby though- everybody that I’ve met with a famous person with the same name hates it.

I don’t think it’s as bad as some posters make out. There’s lots of boys with nicknames as their first name on their birth certificate and they sound serious enough for an important job like being a judge.

I'm gen x and struggle to get past it being short for Robert. I know you don't like it but you could name him Robert but he's always known as Bobby. Also means when he's older he could also call himself Rob, Robbie, Bob, Bobby? Friend of mine called her son Edward, To be known as Ned, no one has EVER called him Edward! I think you have to fast forward 25 years and imagine whether he would still want Bobby as it sounds quite 'young'?