Toby

Toby is a popular male name in many English speaking countries.

The name is often used in its own right, but may also be a contraction of Tobias, Tobit or Tobermory. In The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien "Toby" is used as a contraction of the hobbit name "Tobold", and "Old Toby" is used as a name for a type of tobacco. The only known Tobold outside of the Shire is Tobold Hemming in England

There are many characters in literature called Toby, including:

• Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night by Shakespeare
• Uncle Toby in Tristram Shandy by Lawrence Sterne
• Toby the Tram Engine from The Railway Series books.
• Toby Philpot, a bibulous soldier from an 18th century song, after whom Toby jugs are named.
• Toby Tramp in The Mummy (1833) by William Bernard
• Toby Ziegler from The West Wing
• Tobias (Toby) Beecher from Oz
• Toby Hamee in the Animorphs books by K. A. Applegate
• "Toby," a dialogue interlude from the Belle and Sebastian album Storytelling

In the London slang recorded in the autobiographical novel Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, "Toby" is used to mean a tramp. In Cockney rhyming slang, "toby (jug)" means "mug".

Toby was the name given to the slave Kunta Kinte, whose descendant the author Alex Haley wrote the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family about his roots in Africa, his ancestor's life in slavery, and the family's struggle for freedom in American society. Toby was often used as a name for slaves in the United States.

In the traditional British Punch and Judy puppet shows, the dog is called Toby. Toby remains a popular name for dogs in some countries, especially in France.

Some Puffer fish are commonly known as toby.

See also

• Old Toby
• Toby jug
• For people in Wikipedia called Toby, try the index