Colby
English surname from Norse place names meaning “Koli’s farm”; the Colby cheese made it a household word.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Colby first shows up in the national records in 1888. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American boys in 1 different years between 2001 and 2001. Its biggest year was 2001, when 3,859 newborn boys received the name, ranking it No. 99 nationally. In 2025 it ranked No. 615 for boys. The name has also seen real use for girls: 4,184 of the 58,155 Americans given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Kolby (13,001), Colbie (4,099), Kolbie (1,907), Kolbi (1,192), Colbi (669), Colbey (551) (total births since 1880)
Explore Colby interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 | No. 1031 |
| 1910s | 32 | No. 2732 |
| 1920s | 90 | No. 2336 |
| 1930s | 73 | No. 2326 |
| 1940s | 137 | No. 1460 |
| 1950s | 225 | No. 1411 |
| 1960s | 430 | No. 841 |
| 1970s | 2,754 | No. 413 |
| 1980s | 6,843 | No. 250 |
| 1990s | 14,261 | No. 197 |
| 2000s | 19,182 | No. 99 |
| 2010s | 7,199 | No. 280 |
| 2020s | 2,740 | No. 583 |
Births and rank shown for boys, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
🍼 Enjoying this? Buy my baby a diaper
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.