Nob's name is never directly explained, but in English the nickname 'Nob' would usually be an abbreviation of 'Norbert'. The fact that his fellow servant at the Prancing Pony, Bob, had a name that was a shortened version of 'Robert' implies that this connection is perhaps more than coincidence. If 'Nob' was indeed from 'Norbert', then it ultimately derives from Germanic, meaning something like 'bright one of the north'.
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