Toby
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'''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]]