Jobe
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Job,” from the biblical personal name Job.
The #4,151 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,170 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Jobe is generally treated as a surname formed from the biblical given name Job, with the sense “son of Job.” In English surname formation, a familiar personal name often became hereditary without any added ending, and Bardsley specifically groups Jobe with other Job-based forms. The ultimate root is the Hebrew name Iyyov, traditionally associated with the biblical figure Job.
History
The name Job became a common Christian given name in medieval and early modern England, which helped generate a cluster of surnames such as Job, Jobson, Jobling, Joplin, and Jobe. Bardsley’s treatment suggests Jobe belongs to that family of descendants rather than to a separate source. The surname is comparatively uncommon today but fits a well-attested English patronymic pattern.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that Job also produced several related surnames, showing how a single biblical name could branch into multiple English family names.
From the historical record
“JOBE like Ellis (EHas), John, and Baptist, . Irom the Crusades. Flasks of Jordan water, we know, were brought home to be used for fontal purposes. John the Baptist was the second Ellas, and the baptizer of Jesus Christ, Naturally Jordan was added to the list, and be- came popular throughout Western Europe. Only a…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances