Kobe is the name of the Japanese port city, usually glossed as "door of the gods" from its old shrine district; as an American first name it comes almost entirely from basketball legend Kobe Bryant, whose parents named him after Kobe beef on a restaurant menu. The name's history follows his career: it peaked at number 222 in 2001, drifted into the 500s, then jumped from number 556 in 2019 to number 239 in 2020, the year of his death, before settling back to number 519 in 2025.