Colby

Did you know?

A few things about Colby you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Colby

Colby O'Donis

American singer

Choose Colby and your child shares a first name with Colby O'Donis, an American singer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Colby, like who?” Colby O'Donis's Wikipedia article is available in 25 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Colby O'Donis on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Ilya Haykinson, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 3,754 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Colby, 455 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Colby would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryColby first shows up in US birth records in 1888, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 137 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 2001, when it ranked #99. Today it's #615, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowColby was 2.8× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 1,341 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 3,754.
• 📍Where it's lovedColby is most popular in West Virginia, where it ranks #227, followed by New Hampshire (#230) and Kansas (#324). It's in the top 1,000 in 36 states.
• ⚖️Boy or girlColby is given to both boys and girls: 88% of the 515 babies named Colby in 2025 were boys. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 🌍OriginColby is the #4 most popular Old Norse boy name in the US. That's out of 21 Old Norse boy and unisex names in our list.

About the name Colby

Colby is a gender-neutral name of English, Old English and Old Norse origin. It has 5 letters and 2 syllables, starting with C and ending in “-lby”. US birth records list Colby for boys from 1888 to 2025, in 111 of those 138 years. Its best year was 2001, when it ranked #99 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #615, with 455 babies. Of the 515 US babies named Colby in 2025, 12% were girls and 88% were boys.

Origin:English namesOld English namesOld Norse names