# Colby (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/colby/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “charcoal”, “settlement” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkoʊl.bi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Colbie |
| US babies named this | 58,155 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 53,971 / 4,184 (7% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,573, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 57 | 2,996 |
| 2012 | 48 | 3,379 |
| 2013 | 33 | 4,351 |
| 2014 | 52 | 3,145 |
| 2015 | 45 | 3,493 |
| 2016 | 37 | 4,013 |
| 2017 | 47 | 3,352 |
| 2018 | 42 | 3,628 |
| 2019 | 48 | 3,290 |
| 2020 | 45 | 3,407 |
| 2021 | 56 | 2,967 |
| 2022 | 64 | 2,703 |
| 2023 | 47 | 3,395 |
| 2024 | 49 | 3,240 |
| 2025 | 60 | 2,828 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,026 | 314 |
| 2012 | 909 | 341 |
| 2013 | 746 | 400 |
| 2014 | 717 | 427 |
| 2015 | 665 | 457 |
| 2016 | 558 | 529 |
| 2017 | 465 | 584 |
| 2018 | 459 | 597 |
| 2019 | 447 | 612 |
| 2020 | 439 | 618 |
| 2021 | 420 | 651 |
| 2022 | 469 | 601 |
| 2023 | 467 | 607 |
| 2024 | 490 | 583 |
| 2025 | 455 | 615 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 5 | 2,683 |
| 1997 | 8 | 1,958 |
| 1999 | 8 | 1,970 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3,912 |
| 2001 | 6 | 2,466 |
| 2002 | 7 | 2,301 |
| 2008 | 5 | 3,860 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 54 | 626 |
| 2012 | 73 | 513 |
| 2013 | 94 | 432 |
| 2014 | 92 | 438 |
| 2015 | 82 | 482 |
| 2016 | 56 | 631 |
| 2017 | 65 | 581 |
| 2018 | 102 | 414 |
| 2019 | 157 | 308 |
| 2020 | 159 | 288 |
| 2021 | 136 | 333 |
| 2022 | 155 | 290 |
| 2023 | 219 | 222 |
| 2024 | 220 | 222 |
| 2025 | 222 | 224 |

## People named Colby

- Colby O'Donis, American singer
- Colby Minifie, American actress
- Colby Stevenson, American freestyle skier
- Colby Covington, American mixed martial artist (born 1988)
- Colby Cave, Canadian ice hockey player
- Colby Slater, American rugby union player (1896-1965)
- Colby Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey player
- Colby Lewis, American baseball player
- Person Colby Cheney, American politician (1828–1901)
- Colby Pearce, American cyclist
- Colby Rasmus, American baseball player (born 1986)
- Colby Jones, American basketball player (born 2002)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.