# Kilby (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/kilby/  
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.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 4,412 |
| US rank (2010) | 7,534 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 69,979 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.1% (4,363 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English ċild (“child”) + Old Norse býr (“settlement”). Compare Kelby, which shares the same etymology.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kilby 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) | 90% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 6.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Kilby in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Kilby

- Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer (1923–2005)
- Brian Kilby, British athlete (1938–2024)
- Thomas Kilby, American politician (1865–1943)

## Similar surnames

Kolb, Kulp, Kalb, Klopp, Kolbe, Khalaf, Kulpa, Klipp.

## 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.