Hobson

History & Origin

Hobson began as an English surname, 'son of Hob' — Hob a medieval diminutive of Robert, from Germanic roots meaning 'bright fame'. Like many surnames it drifted into occasional first-name use, and appears in the American record as a genuine rarity right from the tail end of the nineteenth century.

It was never a common choice — only a few dozen boys a year carried it even at its faint peak in the late eighteen-nineties, and it stayed a scattered, family-honoring pick across the twentieth century. Anyone named Hobson today is either an older gentleman or the bearer of a revived surname name; it has not joined the broader surname-revival trend in any real numbers.