Colby

What Colby means

Means “charcoal + settlement”

From either the Old Norse personal name Koli or kol (“charcoal”) + býr (“settlement”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Colby” (revision 91708971), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Colby?

US: Falling: down from #456 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #482 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2001, when 3,859 boys got the name (#99 that year). First in the US records in 1888.

How common

• About 1 in 3,754 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,225 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,511 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WV (1.3 per 1,000 boys), NH (1.11 per 1,000 boys), KS (0.78 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Colby is #615 in the US and #224 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 88.3% of US babies named Colby were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Kolby165 US · 20 E&W
• Kelby18 US
• Kolbey6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Colby

Boys

• Devin#548“fortuneteller”^*
• Lance#862Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 4,160 babies; 279 in 2025
• Tyler#219“tiler”^*
• Dalton#448Editor’s note Down from #328 in 2015 to #448 in 2025 in the US
• Spencer#360Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1998, with 4,619 babies; 908 in 2025
• Brandon#261“broom shrub + hill, dune”^*

For a sister

• Leslie#712“garden of hollies”^*
• Haley#861“hay field”^*
• Paige#346possibly “servant”^*
• Brooke#313Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1996, with 6,724 babies; 972 in 2025
• Sydney#348Variant of Sidney, meaning “wide + island”^*
• Taylor#403From the word “tailor”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Colby’s. Rank is US 2025.