Darbi
Feminine
Darbi respells an English town that gave its name to a horse race and then to every other contest that copied it. The race nearly had a different name, and the decision was made by flipping a coin.
How old is the name Darbi?
Darbi first appears in US birth records in 1960 — 65 years ago. The typical Darbi alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 700 people named Darbi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Darbi most popular?
Darbi peaked in 1995, reaching #2932 nationally. See the whole 1995 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Darbi
In seventeen seventy-nine a group of racing men at a house party near Epsom invented a race for three-year-old fillies and named it after the house, the Oaks. It went well enough that they immediately invented a second race for colts and fillies together, and then had to name that one too. The two men most responsible were the twelfth Earl of Derby and Sir Charles Bunbury, and the standard account says they tossed a coin for it. Derby won, which is why the world's most copied horse race is the Derby and why the word now means any premier contest, from the Kentucky Derby to a local football derby. Bunbury's consolation is that his horse won the first running, and there is still a race at Newmarket called the Bunbury Cup.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The place name is Norse, joining a word for a deer to the element meaning a settlement, and it is one of the clearest markers of Danish settlement in England. This spelling respells it and there is no evidence any family had the town in mind.
Pronouncing Darbi
DAR-bee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The English town is said the same way, which is why the American respelling with an a is closer to the sound than the standard spelling is.
Nicknames for Darbi
Moderate
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
- 1960
- Most girls named
- 199540 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2932reached in 1995
- Change vs 2017
- −28.6%5 in 2021, from 7
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.
Darbis among us
people named Darbi 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
Darbi 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
- The spelling matches the sound better than the standard one does.
- Two syllables with front stress is easy to say and quick.
- Five letters with no silent ones make it simple to spell aloud.
- Darby and Derby are both recorded and will be written for it.
- The final i dates the spelling to the second half of the last century.
- Nothing records whether the town was intended at all.
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Darbi
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Darbis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Darbi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Darbi in 2025?
- Darbi is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Darbi with classmates?
- Darbi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Darbi? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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