Meaning & origin
What it means
Kerby is a form of Kirby. Kirby is built from elements meaning “church” and “habitation”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Kerby is a form of Kirby. Kirby comes from Old English.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1942. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kerby through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,006
- 884 boys · 122 girls
- Most popular year
- 1984
- 32 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,020 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,020 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 26 in 1961. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,133 as a first name in 2020; 3,894 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.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Kerby
- Kerby RychelCanadian ice hockey playerborn 1994
- Kerby JosephAmerican football player (born 2000)
- Kerby RaymundoFilipino basketball player (born 1981)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Kerby, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kory
“from the hollow; of the churning waters”
82% boys · 18% girls
Kurtis
“a courtier”
>99% boys
Cory
“from the hollow; of the churning waters” · “of the heart”
94% boys · 6% girls
Korey
“from the hollow; of the churning waters”
86% boys · 14% girls
Cortez
“a courteous man”
>99% boys
Darnell
“a secretive woman” · “from the hidden place”
>99% boys
Kareem
“a generous man”
>99% boys
Brenton
“from the hill”
>99% boys