Colbey
Masculine · “Koli's farm”
Colbey is given to both — 523 boys and 28 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Colbey writes Colby with an extra e, and Colby is an English place-name from the Viking settlements, meaning Koli's farm. In the United States the word is best known as a cheese, first made in 1885 by Joseph Steinwand at his father's cheese factory near Colby, Wisconsin.
How old is the name Colbey?
Colbey first appears in US birth records in 1983 — 42 years ago. The typical Colbey alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 500 people named Colbey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Colbey most popular?
Colbey peaked in 2002, reaching #2504 nationally. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Old Norse Koli and by, 'farm' to Colbey
The story of Colbey
Villages called Colby in Norfolk and in Cumbria gave English families the surname, and the surname reached America early. The Wisconsin town gave its name to the cheese Steinwand developed, a milder, moister cousin of cheddar that became an American staple. Colbey, with its -ey ending, is one of several spellings that appeared as Colby became a first name in the late twentieth century.
Meaning
Koli's farm, as Colby
Colby is an Old Norse place-name: by, 'farm, settlement', after a man called Koli. Colbey is a modern spelling of it with an -ey ending and has no separate history.
How the name formed
- Old Norse Koli and by, 'farm'
- Colby, English place-name
- Colby, surname
- Colbey
Pronouncing Colbey
KOHL-bee
Said exactly like Colby.
Nicknames for Colbey
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1983
- Most boys named
- 200239 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2504reached in 2002
- Change vs 2015
- +20.0%6 in 2016, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Colbeys among us
people named Colbey are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Colbey sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Sounds exactly like Colby, a name people already know.
- Cole comes built in as a short form.
- Behind it stands a documented English place-name with a Viking-age origin.
- Nearly everyone will write Colby at first; expect to spell out the extra e.
- The cheese is the first thing many Americans think of.
- Almost every child with this spelling is a boy; a girl called Colbey will meet it mostly on boys.
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What they receive
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Colbey
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Colbeys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Colbey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Colbey in 2025?
- Colbey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Colbey with classmates?
- Colbey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Colbey? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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