Darby

Spellings & scripts●(measured from records)

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Darby is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name3 spellings in the group

  Also written Dârby

64 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Darby is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Form of Dermot, found in Limerick and Tipperary; used as a Christian name in Ireland.

  as a name·Irish first names

• Transferred use of the surname, in origin a local name from the city of Derby or the district of West Derby near Liverpool. These are so called from Old Norse diur ‘deer’ + byr ‘settlement’. In Ireland this name has been used as an Anglicized form of Gaelic Diarmaid (see Dermot).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• A form of Dermot which occurred in Limerick and Tipperary. It had spread from Ireland to England as early as 1560. Henriette Templeton used the name in her novel Darby O’Gill and the Good People, released as a Walt Disney film called Darby O’Gill and the Little People. Darby O’Drive was also a character in William Carleton’s novel Valentine McClutchey (1845).

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, A specialized tool used to smooth and level the surface of wet concrete, consisting of a stiff wedge or triangle of wood or metal.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, from Derby; first attested Roger de Derby 1160–82 RegAntiquiss

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Mary Robinsonb. 1758GBnot in their usual nameEnglish poet, novelist, dramatist, actress (1758–1800)
• John Nelson Darbyb. 1800GBBritish Bible teacher, considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism and Futurism. (1800-1882)
• Ken Darbyb. 1909USAmerican composer (1909-1992)
• Kim Darbyb. 1947USAmerican actress
• Darby Lloyd Rainsb. 1947USAmerican pornographic actress
• Darby Crashb. 1958USAmerican musician (1958–1980)
• Darby Stanchfieldb. 1971USAmerican actress
• Rhys Darbyb. 1974NZNew Zealand actor, comedian and voice actor
• Stephen Darbyb. 1988GBEnglish association football player
• Darby Campb. 2007USAmerican actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Darby mean, and where does it come from?

from Derby or West Derby, or from Irish Gaelic O Diarmada Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

In which country does Darby have the most bearers?

In Brazil, the national register counted about 877 thousand people named Davi, more than in any other country we hold.

Where is Darby most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Darby is densest in the United States — about 1 in 34 thousand people — even though Brazil holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Darby?

In the United States, the national register counted 9,906 people named Darby in 2020, about 1 in 34 thousand residents.