Tobias is a Greek version of the Hebrew biblical name "Tobijah", meaning "Jehovah [God] is good". It is a popular male given name in Germany, Scandinavia, the United States and amongst Jewish people. In English-speaking countries it is often shortened to Toby. Other diminutives are Tobi (English, Germany), Tobsen (Germany) and Tobbe (Sweden). Tobias has also been a surname.

Biblical

Several people are called Tobias in The Bible:

• Tobias, son of Tobit; "Book of Tobias" is an older name for the Book of Tobit
• Tobias the elder
• Tobias, father of Hircanus
• Tobiah (Ammonite)
• Tobias, brother-in-law of Onias II, father of the Joseph who succeeded in pacifying Ptolemy III Euergetes.
• Tobbe, son-in-law of Onias III, son of Onias II

As a given name

• Tobias (Animorphs) (fictional character)
• Tobias Abse (professor)
• Tobias Abstreiter (hockey center)
• Tobias Angerer (cross country skier)
• Tobias Arlt (luger)
• Tobias Bamberg (magician)
• Tobias Barreto de Meneses (critic/poet)
• Tobias Beecher (from Oz)
• Tobias Beer (actor)
• Tobias Bernstrup (contemporary artist)
• Tobias Billström (politician)
• Tobias Bjarneby (video game journalist)
• Tobias Bogner (ski jumper)
• Tobias Bonhoeffer (neurobiologist)
• Tobias Bruns (artist)
• Tobias S. Buckell (scifi author)
• Tobias Büttner (football defender)
• Tobias Carlsson (Kalmar FF footballer)
• Tobías Zúñiga Castro (politician)
• Tobias Cohn (17/18th century physician)
• Tobias Cole (countertenor)
• Tobias Joaquim Dai (politician)
• Tobias Dantzig (mathematician)
• Tobias Delius (musician)
• Tobias Dier (golfer)
• Tobias Druitt (author, pseudonym)
• Tobias Ellwood (politician)
• Tobias Eng (musician)
• Tobias Enhus (composer)
• Tobias Enström (hockey defenceman)
• Tobias Exxel (bass player from Edguy)
• Tobias Fish (future megastar)
• Tobias Forsberg (hockey winger)
• Tobias Frere-Jones (type designer)
• Tobias Fünke (Arrested Development)
• Tobias Furneaux (Royal Navy officer)
• Tobias Geffen (rabbi)
• Tobias Geye (artist)
• Tobias Gondrom (internet engineer)
• Tobias Grahn (Gimnàstic de Tarragona midfielder)
• Tobias Gregson (fictional character)

• Tobias Grünenfelder
• Tobias Hayek
• Tobias Hecht
• Tobías Hernández
• Tobias Hill (poet/novelist)
• Tobias Hoesl
• Tobias Hogan
• Tobias Holmberg
• Tobias Holmqvist
• Tobias Hume (composer & soldier)
• Tobias Hysén (IFK Göteborg footballer)
• Tobias Jesso
• Detective Tobias Jones
• Tobias Jones (writer) (author & journalist)
• Tobias Kamke
• Tobias Kassung
• Tobias Krantz
• Tobías Lasser
• Tobias Lear V (personal secretary)
• Tobias Levels
• Tobias Lindemann
• Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray midfielder)
• Tobias Lohner
• Tobias Mabuta Munihango
• Tobias Matthay (teacher & composer)
• Tobias Matthew (archbishop of York)
• Tobias Mayer (astronomer)
• Tobias Mehler
• Tobias Menzies (actor)
• Tobias Michael Carel Asser (jurist)
• Tobias Mikaelsson
• Tobias Mikkelsen
• Tobias Moretti (actor)
• Tobias Mullen
• Tobias Müller
• Tobias Nath
• Tobias Nickenig
• Tobias Crawford Norris (politician)
• Tobias Oetiker
• Tobias Ohls
• Tobias Picker (composer)

• Tobias Pflüger (politician)
• Tobias A. Plants
• Tobias Pock
• Tobias Ragg (from Sweeney Todd)
• Tobias Rathgeb
• Tobias Rau (Arminia Bielefeld defender)
• Tobias Read
• Tobias Regner (musician)
• Tobias Rustat
• Tobias Sammet (vocalist from Edguy)
• Tobias Schellenberg (competitive diver)
• Tobias Schenke
• Tobias Schiegl
• Tobias Schneebaum (artist & activist)
• Tobias Schneider
• Tobias Schönenberg (actor & photomodel)
• Tobias Schweinsteiger
• Tobias Simon
• Tobias Sippel
• Tobias Smollett (Scottish author)
• Tobias Snape (father of Severus Snape)
• Tobias Steinhauser
• Tobias Stephan (hockey goaltender)
• Tobias Stimmer (painter & illustrator)
• Tobias Summerer
• Tobias Truvillion
• Tobias Unger (athlete)
• Tobias Verhaecht (draughtsman)
• Tobias Verwey
• Tobias Viklund
• Tobias Weis
• Tobias Wendl
• Tobias Whale (fictional character)
• Tobias Willi
• Tobias Wolff (writer)

Middle name

• Abraham Tobias Boas
• Albert Tobias Clay
• Ferdinand Tobias Richter
• J. Tobias Anderson
• Johan Tobias Sergel, Swedish sculptor
• Johann Tobias Beck
• Johann Tobias Bürg (astronomer)
• Johann Tobias Krebs (composer)
• Johann Tobias Mayer

Derivative name

• Tobey Maguire
• Tobiah ben Eliezer

As a surname

The surname Tobias may refer to the following people:

• Andrew Tobias, American journalist, author and columnist
• Channing Heggie Tobias
• Charles Tobias, American songwriter
• Errol Tobias, former South African rugby union footballer
• George Tobias, American character actor
• Gert & Uwe Tobias
• Herbert Tobias
• Jenny Kendall-Tobias, British radio presenter
• Jesse Tobias, American guitarist
• John Tobias, American co-creator of the Mortal Kombat fighting game series
• Mahlon Tobias
• Marc Tobias
• Michael Tobias
• Murray Tobias
• Nataliya Tobias
• Oliver Tobias, British film, stage and TV actor
• Paul Tobias, former member of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses
• Phillip V. Tobias, South African palaeoanthropologist
• Ambassador Randall L. Tobias, former United States Director of Foreign Assistance and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development
• Rudolf Tobias, first Estonian professional composer
• Seth Tobias
• Timothy J. Tobias
• Todd Tobias

Places

• Tobias, Nebraska, A US village
• Tobias Fornier, Antique, a municipality in the Philippines

Arts

Tobias and the Angel is the title given to paintings and other artworks depicting a scene in which Tobias, son of Tobit, meets an angel without realising he is an angel (Book of Tobit, 5.5-6) and is then instructed by the angel what to do with a giant fish he catches (Book of Tobit, 6.2-9), including:

Paintings

• "Tobias and the Angel", print by Hercules Seghers
• "Tobias and the Angel", 1875 painting by Evelyn De Morgan

Literature/Theatre

• Tobias and the Angel (Jonathan Dove), community opera
• "Tobias and the Angel", 1975 novel by Frank Yerby