Colby is a distinctive boys' name in United States, ranking #606 in 2023 with 467 recorded births. The name reached its all-time peak in 2001 with 3,859 births ranking #99. Since 1996, the popularity has decreased by 65.3%. In 2023, approximately 1 in every 3,659 boys born was named Colby. STABLE Recent data shows the name is currently stable.
Colby is an English surname-style name with a light, approachable sound. The older place-name meaning is less central to modern use than the name's friendly, sporty feel.
Like many names of its type, Colby entered first-name use through surname tradition and later settled into mainstream naming. It has a very late twentieth-century American profile.