# Darby (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/darby/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A habitational surname from Old Norse.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norse |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 18,757 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,921 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 16,460 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.1% (17,854 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɑːbi/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the English place name Derby, from Old Norse djúr (“deer”) + býr (“settlement”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Darby in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 62% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 33% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Darby in the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

## People named Darby

- John Nelson Darby, British Bible teacher, considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism and Futuris
- Kim Darby, American actress
- Ken Darby, American composer (1909-1992)
- Ronald Darby, American football player and sprint athlete
- Harry Darby, American politician (1895-1987)
- William Orlando Darby, American World War II Army colonel
- John M. Darby, American botanist, chemist & academic (1804-1877)

## Similar surnames

Derby, Durfee, Drapeau.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.