How common is the surname Kirby?

53,767 people in the United States had the surname Kirby in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,742 Americans. It ranked 633rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kirby?

Jack Kirby, American comic book artist (1917–1994), followed by Vanessa Kirby.

Where is the surname Kirby most common?

Wikidata records people named Kirby in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and 2 other countries.

How do you pronounce Kirby?

Kirby is /ˈkɝbi/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Kirby getting more or less common?

More common. 52,473 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 53,767 in 2010, up 2.5%.

Is Kirby also a first name?

Yes. Kirby is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Kirby

A place surname, carried by 53,767 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɝbi/ 2 syllables Soundex K610 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kirby is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

Originally Kirkby, from kirk (“church”) + -by (“habitation”), "village with a church".

Kirby is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 53,767 people named Kirby in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,742 Americans. That is up 2.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 52,473.

#633

rank among US surnames

53,767

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.5%

change since 2000 (was #577)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#624	Combs	54,257	5,690
#625	Mathis	54,217	5,695
#626	Christian	54,198	5,697
#627	Skinner	54,046	5,713
#628	Bradford	54,015	5,716
#629	Richard	53,893	5,729
#630	Galvan	53,822	5,736

Who is named Kirby

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

86% of people named Kirby identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.9%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kirbys

16 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Jack Kirby
American comic book artist (1917–1994)
Vanessa Kirby
British actress (born 1987)
Bruno Kirby
American actor (1949–2006)
William Kirby
British entomologist (1759-1850)
Bruce Kirby
American actor (1925–2021)
William Forsell Kirby
British entomologist (1844-1912)
Robion Kirby
American mathematician, born 1938
William F. Kirby
American politician (1867-1934)
John Kirby
American lawyer (1939-2019)
Edward Kirby
American long-distance runner, 1901–1968
Bill Kirby
Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medallist, world champion, former world record-holder, born 1975
Malachi Kirby
British actor, born 1989

Notable Kirbys come mostly from the United States (8), the United Kingdom (3) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Kerby

Surnames that sound like Kirby

Kerby

Kirby has the Soundex code K610, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K610.

Questions

Where does the surname Kirby come from?: Originally Kirkby, from kirk (“church”) + -by (“habitation”), "village with a church".
How common is the surname Kirby?: 53,767 people in the United States had the surname Kirby in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,742 Americans. It ranked 633rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kirby?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Kirby identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kirby?: Jack Kirby, American comic book artist (1917–1994), followed by Vanessa Kirby.
Where is the surname Kirby most common?: Wikidata records people named Kirby in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and 2 other countries.
How do you pronounce Kirby?: Kirby is /ˈkɝbi/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Kirby?: Kirby is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Kirby getting more or less common?: More common. 52,473 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 53,767 in 2010, up 2.5%.
What are other spellings of Kirby?: Kerby.
Is Kirby also a first name?: Yes. Kirby is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.