Given name & surname · also Old English
Wilby
“willow”
Wilby is a surname from Old English (ultimately Old Norse).
Meaning & origin
What it means
Wilby goes back to Old English welig, meaning “willow.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Wilby comes from Old English, and ultimately from Old Norse.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Old English welig (“willow”), from Old Norse bý (“farmstead”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1918. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Wilby through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 8
- 8 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 8 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 1918. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 374 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.
Wilby’s family of names
Wilby may belong to the same name family as WILBEE. This is a tentative spelling connection.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Wilby, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Wilbur
“one who is willful; a bright man”
>99% boys
Cosby
“farm; settlement”
90% boys · 10% girls
Wilfred
“one who wishes for peace”
>99% boys
Willard
“a resolute and brave man”
>99% boys
Rauni
“rowan”
>99% boys
Wilton
“from the town on the river”
>99% boys
Ingvald
Ingvald is a masculine given name from Old Norse. It is used in Norwegian.
>99% boys
Ingram
“a raven of peace”
>99% boys