Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Colby

The name Colby is the transferred use of an old English surname which itself developed from a place name. There are still towns called Colby Norfolk, Westmorland and Lincolnshire, England. These villages were named Colby to signify the “farmstead or village of a man called Koli”. Koli was a nickname name borrowed from the Vikings for a person of ‘swarthy’ appearance – in other words, a man with a dark complexion or weather-beaten face. The elements come from the Old Norse “kol” meaning ‘(char)coal’ and “byr” meaning ‘settlement’. The first recorded spelling of this surname shows up in the Domesday Book in the 11th century as Colebei. As a given name, Colby has been around for less than 50 years and appears to be mainly used in North America (United States and Canada, specifically).

All About the Baby Name – Colby

Personality

OF THE BOY NAME COLBY

The Three energy is powerful and enthusiastic. These personalities are cheerful, full of self-expression, and often quite emotional. They have an artistic flair and "gift-of-gab" that makes them natural entertainers. Their joyfulness bubbles over, and their infectious exuberance draws a crowd. The Three personality is like a child - forever young and full of delight. They are charming, witty, and generally happy people. The Three personality lives in the "now" and has a spontaneous nature. Threes seem to live with a bright and seemingly unbreakable aura that attracts others to them. In turn, they are deeply loyal and loving to their friends and family. Luck also has a tendency to favor number Threes.

Popularity

OF THE BOY NAME COLBY

The name Colby came onto the American popularity charts for the first time in 1968. It’s not quite clear what spurred on the sudden interest in this surname, but it demonstrated fairly quick success as a given name out of the gate. There was also another push up the charts in the 1980s, probably influenced by the popular television serial-drama, Dynasty, which featured a prominent family called The Colby’s. The name continued on up the charts and actually achieved a spot on the Top 100 list of most favored boy names in one year (2001). This happened to be the year that the reality TV show “Survivor: Australian Outback” aired. A ruggedly handsome contestant by the name of Colby Donaldson was runner-up that season – perhaps the pregnant ladies watching took notice of his name. However, since 2001 Colby has been showing a reversal of good fortune, dropping over 150 positions on the charts in recent years. In any case, Colby reminds us of Toby or Jacoby – almost interchangeable as a dog’s name. It also brings to mind Colby cheese. On the plus side, the name is really gender neutral (although it’s much more heavily used on little boys). We like the nickname Cole. It sort of makes the “cutesy” Colby a little more kick-ass.

Quick Facts

ON COLBY

GENDER:

Boy

ORIGIN:

English

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

2

RANKING POPULARITY:

401

PRONUNCIATION:

KOL-bee

SIMPLE MEANING:

Swarthy one; coal settlement

Characteristics

OF COLBY

Communicative

Creative

Optimistic

Popular

Social

Dramatic

Happy

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Colby

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME COLBY

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Colby

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME COLBY

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Colby


Popular Songs

ON COLBY

We cannot find any popular or well-known songs with the name of Colby


Famous People

NAMED COLBY

Colby Armstrong (hockey player)
Colby Buzzell (soldier/blogger)
Colbie Caillat (female pop artist)
Colby Chandler (businessman)
Colby Cohen (hockey player)
Colby Cooper (politician)
Colby Donaldson (reality TV)
Colby O'Donis (pop artist)
Colby Lewis (baseball player)
Colby Rasmus (baseball player)

Children of Famous People

NAMED COLBY

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Colby

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME COLBY

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Colby