Dobby ranks #445 with 278 entries, registered male. The name belongs almost entirely to a single cultural source: Dobby the house-elf from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, introduced in Chamber of Secrets (1998 book / 2002 film). There is essentially no other pop-culture or naming tradition feeding into the name's American adoption.
The Harry Potter lineage
Dobby's character — small, big-eared, bare-skinned, fiercely loyal — gives the name an extremely specific visual template. Owners picking Dobby almost universally have either Harry Potter affection or a pet whose physical appearance maps to Dobby's animated visual. The fan-base is multi-generational at this point, and adoption of the name has been steady since the early 2000s.
Breed lean and visual fit
Dobby lands disproportionately on hairless, big-eared, or wide-eyed breeds where the visual matches the namesake — Sphynx cats, Cornish Rex cats, Chihuahuas, Italian Greyhounds, Yorkies, Min Pins, and Whippets. The big-eyed-and-skinny aesthetic dominates the cluster strongly. Owners often share a photo with the name reveal because the visual punchline lands hard.
The cultural-shift counter-reading
Worth flagging: J.K. Rowling has become a culturally divisive figure since the late 2010s, and a non-trivial share of younger owners now hesitate at Harry Potter character names. Dobby is one of the cleaner picks because the character is sympathetic across the political spectrum, but the cultural air around the franchise has shifted. The human Dobby page shows essentially zero SSA presence.