Kirby
Feminine · “church settlement”
Kirby is given to both — 3,963 girls and 14,532 boys since 1880. See Kirby as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Kirby is the church settlement in Old Norse — kirkju býr — and every English place ending in -by marks the Danelaw.
How old is the name Kirby?
Kirby first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Kirby alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 3,800 people named Kirby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kirby most popular?
Kirby peaked in 1984, reaching #526 nationally. Today it ranks #2645, 2,119 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From kirkju býr to Kirby
The story of Kirby
Every English place name ending in -by is Norse and marks the Danelaw, the area under Danish law after the ninth century — and Kirby is the one with a church. There are more than twenty Kirbys and Kirkbys in northern England. Kirby entered American given-name use for both sexes and is in current use.
Meaning
church settlement
From the Old Norse kirkju-býr, 'church farm' — kirkja, 'church', and býr, 'settlement'. Dozens of northern English places are Kirby or Kirkby. The Norse býr closes hundreds of place names in the Danelaw. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- kirkju býr
- Kirkby
- Kirby
Related forms: Kirkby · Kirkjubýr
Pronouncing Kirby
KUR-bee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Kirby
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
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 1983232 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #526reached in 1984
- Change vs 2023
- +18.2%65 in 2025, from 55
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.
Kirby in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kirkby in English — spelling variant
- Kirkjubýr in Norse — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Kirbys among us
people named Kirby are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 24,727 born in 2025 was named Kirby
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Billy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kirby's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Billy climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Billy's path sketches the road Kirby is walking now.
Kirby sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kirby is headed
Kirby looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 23% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Kirby beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kirby in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That every -by place name marks the Danelaw is a first-rate fact.
- The church-settlement meaning is concrete and undisputed.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- A video game character is a strong association for many.
- It reads as masculine and as a surname to most.
- A vacuum cleaner brand carries the name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kirby
Feminine · #2645 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kirbys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,800 people named Kirby are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kirby in 2025?
- Kirby ranks #2645 among US girl names in 2025, with 65 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kirby?
- About 1 in every 24,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Kirby — 65 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kirby with classmates?
- Kirby will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kirby
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Caliana#2645 · Aaira#2645 · Wylie#2645 · Henrietta#2645 · Mahogany#2645 · Amaiah#2645 · Charlize#2645 · Esra#2645
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kirby? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kirby and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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