Explore the Family Name Tobias
The meaning of Tobias
1. English, German, Dutch, and Jewish; Spanish (Tobías); Hungarian (Tóbiás); Czech (Tobiáš) and Slovak (Tobiaš, Tobiáš, Tóbiáš, Tóbiaš): from the Biblical personal name Tobias (Spanish Tobías, Hungarian Tóbiás, Czech and Slovak Tobiáš), from a Greek and Latin form of the Hebrew name Tovyah ‘Jehovah is good’, which, together with various derivative forms, has been popular among Jews for generations. Among Christians it has been in use in the earliest time, already. 2. Germanized or Americanized form of Polish Tobiasz or Croatian Tobijaš, a cognate of 1 above. 3. Slovenian: from a German or Latin form of the Biblical personal name Tobija (see 1 above). In North America, this surname may also be an altered form of the variant Tobijas.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Tobias in the United States?
The surname Tobias has seen a slight rise in popularity according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it ranked 2526, but by 2010, it had moved up to 2494, a change of 1.27%. The count of people with this surname also increased from 13,113 in 2000 to 14,482 in 2010, marking an increase of 10.44%. The proportion per 100,000 people saw a small bump as well, moving from 4.86 to 4.91, a change of 1.03%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,526 | #2,494 | 1.27% |
| Count | 13,113 | 14,482 | 10.44% |
| Proportion per 100k | 4.86 | 4.91 | 1.03% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tobias
In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows some interesting shifts among those with the Tobias surname from 2000 to 2010. The percentage identifying as Hispanic increased significantly from 21.67% to 26.06%, indicating a change of 20.26%. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native also increased, though more modestly, by 13.86% and 13.04% respectively. Those identifying as Two or more races grew by 17.69%. However, the percentage of individuals with the Tobias surname identifying as White decreased by 8.80%, while the Black category saw a small increase of 1.52%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 60.32% | 55.01% | -8.8% |
| Hispanic | 21.67% | 26.06% | 20.26% |
| Black | 13.15% | 13.35% | 1.52% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 3.32% | 3.78% | 13.86% |
| Two or More Races | 1.3% | 1.53% | 17.69% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.23% | 0.26% | 13.04% |
Tobias ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Tobias is British & Irish, which comprises 30.8% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (20.0%) and Ashkenazi Jewish (12.1%). Additional ancestries include Spanish & Portuguese, Eastern European, Indigenous American, Scandinavian, and Italian.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| British & Irish | 30.8% |
| French & German | 20.0% |
| Ashkenazi Jewish | 12.1% |
| Other | 37.1% |
Possible origins of the surname Tobias
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Tobias have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Greater Manchester, United Kingdom | 56.80% |
| Greater London, United Kingdom | 56.80% |
| Merseyside, United Kingdom | 56.40% |
| Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 56.40% |
| West Midlands, United Kingdom | 56.40% |
What Tobias haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Tobias is E-M34, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup E-M34 is descended from haplogroup E-M96. Other common haplogroups include R-CTS2501 and R-L1, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Stevens, Simmons, Smith, Black, Adams, David, Ellis, Fox, Thompson, White.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Tobias surname are: A2, H1, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins E-M96
Your paternal lineage may be linked to Napolean Bonaparte
The French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte descended from the common ancestor of haplogroup E-M34. The male line of the Bonaparte family was from Tuscany, where Napoleon's earliest known male ancestors lived for at least six generations. Eleven generations before Napoleon, his ancestor, Giovanni, was the first to leave Tuscany for Corsica. The Bonaparte lineage lived in Corsica for ten generations before Napoleon's father, Charles-Marie Bonaparte. Charles-Marie (born in 1746) married Napoleon's mother, Letizia Ramolino, at the age of 18 in 1764.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Tobias have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Tobias" Surname 36.1%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Misophonia
When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.
"Tobias" Surname 29.0%
23andMe Users 27.9%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"Tobias" Surname 15.8%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Tobias" Surname 14.3%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Tobias?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Tobias are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition