Given name & surname
Albany
“from the white hill; whiteskinned”
Albany is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “from the white hill; whiteskinned.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “from the white hill; whiteskinned.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
From Medieval Latin Albania, from Old Irish Albu, from Proto-Celtic *albiyū, from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1926. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Albany is a variant of Alban. The history of Alban gives this family its wider story. Alban was in use during the Middle Ages.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Albany through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 730
- 5 boys · 725 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 30 babies
- 2025
- 11
- #8,886 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −47%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 11 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 8,886 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 47.3% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 30 in 2007. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 819 as a first name in 2020; 602 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Albany’s family of names
Albany has a related form in Albin. Albany has a related form in Alban. Albany has a related form in Alban.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 17
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Albany
- Albany HancockEnglish naturalist, biologist and supporter of Charles Darwin (1806-1873)
- Albany FonblanqueEnglish journalist (1794-1872)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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