Toby 3176002 223891205 2008-07-06T10:46:55Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{otheruses}} '''Toby''' is a popular male name in many [[anglophone|English speaking]] countries. It is also a popular name for Jewish women because of its similarity to the Hebrew name Tova. The name is often used in its own right, but may also be a contraction of [[Tobias]], [[Tobit]], [[Tobin]] (an Irish surname - ''in'' Irish, "Toibin"), 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 M P Hemming in England/Australia There are many characters in literature called Toby, including: * Sir [[Toby Belch]] in ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' by [[Shakespeare]] * Toby in ''[[Transamerica]]'' * [[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 [[Jug (container)#Toby jug|Toby jug]]s are named. * [[Toby Tramp]] in ''[[The Mummy (play)|The Mummy]]'' (1833) by [[William Bernard]] * [[Toby Flenderson]] from the American version of [[The Office (US TV series)|The Office]] * [[Toby Isaacs]] from ''[[Degrassi: The Next Generation]]'' * [[Toby Ziegler]] from [[The West Wing (TV series)|The West Wing]] * [[Tobias Beecher|Tobias (Toby) Beecher]] from [[Oz (TV series)|Oz]] *[[Toby Hamee]] in the ''[[Animorphs]]'' books by [[K. A. Applegate]] * "Toby," a dialogue interlude from the Belle and Sebastian album ''[[Storytelling (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 [[slavery|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]]. [[Category:Lists of ambiguous human names]]