Colby

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Colby: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Colby: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #165, and it stood at #577 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
55times a registrar ranked it
30years from first to last
#165highest recorded position
12groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2683
1997	#1958
1999	#1970
2000	#3912
2001	#2466
2002	#2301
2008	#3860
2024	#5891

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #165 among boys in Scotland, #216 among boys in Northern Ireland, #222 among boys in England and Wales, #785 among boys in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1996–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #2683 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #577 among boys in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Boys

Colby appears in 4 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 2,306 births with the name.

Colby across 4 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Colby's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#853 (1996)	#222 (2023)	#222 (2024)	29 of 29	2,306 (1996–2024)	220 (2024)
England and Wales · Girls	#2683 (1996)	#1958 (1997)	#5891 (2024)	8 of 29	45 (1996–2024)	8 (1997)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#341 (2006)	#192 (2022)	#216 (2024)	10 of 19	60 (2006–2024)	11 (2022)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#713 (2016)	#577 (2025)	#577 (2025)	7 of 10	25 (2016–2025)	5 (2025)

Colby by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Colby in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	94	4 of 10	24
2000s	466	10 of 10	47
2010s	857	10 of 10	86
2020sbusiest	889	5 of 10	178

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 178 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2022 and 2023, when recorded births rose by 64, from 155 to 219.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Colby appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #165 in Scotland in 2024.

Colby's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#5891	3	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#222	220	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#222	219	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#290	155	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#333	136	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#288	159	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#308	157	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#414	102	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#581	65	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#631	56	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#482	82	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#438	92	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#432	94	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#513	73	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#626	54	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#451	82	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#535	63	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#3860	5	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#604	52	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#664	43	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#543	54	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#590	45	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#599	40	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#479	50	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#2301	7	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#417	54	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2466	6	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#533	36	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3912	3	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#624	29	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1970	8	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#507	39	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#958	15	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1958	8	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#694	23	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#2683	5	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#853	17	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	male	#216	9	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	male	#232	8	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	male	#192	11	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	male	#266	7	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	male	#252	7	High	Verified
2017	Northern Ireland	male	#415	3	High	Verified
2015	Northern Ireland	male	#314	5	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	male	#387	3	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	male	#329	4	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	male	#341	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	male	#577	5	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	male	#785	3	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#657	4	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	male	#741	3	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	male	#646	4	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	male	#749	3	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#713	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#165	27	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1996 and 2025, ranked in 30 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #165, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 220 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2006, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Cohen · #96, 30y
Colbie · #727, 22y
Cole · #62, 31y
Coleen · #363, 26y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Caden · #165, 28y
Emelia · #164, 30y
Kobe · #166, 29y
Kobi · #166, 30y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Ayesha · #165, 33y
Caden · #165, 28y
Elli · #165, 30y
Marshall · #165, 29y

Colby was ranked #165 in Scotland · Boys in 2024. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Colby and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Colby without appearing here.

Colby moved ahead of

Gail Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3912 and #3912 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #2301 and #4137.
Therese Compare
In 2000 they stood at #3912 and #2416 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2001 that had become #2466 and #3998.
Helene Compare
In 2001 they stood at #2466 and #2023 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #2301 and #3409.
Vicki Compare
In 2001 they stood at #2466 and #2023 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #2301 and #3409.

Moved ahead of Colby

Selma Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1970 and #2444 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #3912 and #1389.
Ida Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1970 and #2770 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #3912 and #2167.
Shea Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1970 and #2189 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #3912 and #2746.
Finley Compare
In 1998 they stood at #1958 and #3174 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1999 that had become #1970 and #1261.

Moved the opposite way to Colby

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Colby

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Colby went from #853 to #222 and Archie from #192 to #10.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1996 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #165 in Scotland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Colby

Colby at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Colby across 4 official records

Colby by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Colby appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Colby

Colby and the names beside it

Colby moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Colby

Moved the opposite way to Colby

Moved the same way as Colby

Colby at a glance

Colby across 4 official records

Colby by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Colby appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Colby

Colby and the names beside it

Colby moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Colby

Moved the opposite way to Colby

Moved the same way as Colby