Colby
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Meaning
“English surname from Old Norse, 'Koli's farm/settlement'”
The story
Colby is an English surname from Old Norse, traditionally Koli's farm, one more piece of Viking real estate that the centuries quietly turned into a first name. It idled from the 1910s at trace levels, then rode the -by and -ley boys' wave upward through the 1990s to a peak in the 2000s, keeping company with Cody, Colton, and the rest of the soft-western cohort. It has eased since. Colby's sound does double duty, cowboy-adjacent but soft-edged and friendly, and yes, there is a cheese, which the name survives with good humor the same way Chase survives the bank and Sierra survives the truck. The Norse farmstead underneath gives it a solider history than its playground ease lets on, a thousand years of land under two easy syllables.
How popular is Colby around the world?
In the United States, 3,061 babies were named Colby between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 27 boys named Colby were registered in 2024, the 165th most common name among boys that year.
Colby is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland and South Australia.
United States
1 in 7,100
In the United States, 3,061 babies were named Colby between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Colby peaked in the 2000s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 1,700
In Scotland, 27 boys named Colby were registered in 2024, the 165th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 2,600
In England and Wales, 222 boys named Colby were born in 2025, the 224th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Canada
1 in 5,300
In Canada, 60 boys named Colby were born in 2024, the 491st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 11,000
In Ireland, 5 boys named Colby were born in 2025, the 577th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Colby in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2001
Colby is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Colby
Most people given the name Colby in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Colby deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Colby truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Colby fits with your family’s names and surname.
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