Meaning and history
From an English surname derived from various place names, ultimately from the Old Norse byname Koli, meaning “coal” or “dark,” and býr, meaning “farm” or “settlement,” Colby became notably more popular as a given name in the United States and Canada in 2001 after Colby Donaldson (1974–) appeared on the reality television show Survivor.
20062006: 1,272 births, rank #272
2007: 1,221 births, rank #283
2008: 1,256 births, rank #273
2009: 1,152 births, rank #285
2010: 1,207 births, rank #280
20112011: 1,026 births, rank #314
2012: 909 births, rank #341
2013: 746 births, rank #400
2014: 717 births, rank #427
2015: 665 births, rank #456
20162016: 558 births, rank #529
2017: 465 births, rank #584
2018: 459 births, rank #597
2019: 447 births, rank #612
2020: 439 births, rank #618
20212021: 420 births, rank #651
2022: 469 births, rank #600
2023: 467 births, rank #607
2024: 490 births, rank #583
20252025: 455 births, rank #615
Colby moved from #583 to #615 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2001, with 3,859 births.