The name Darby is a boy's name of Irish, Scandinavian, Norse origin meaning "from the deer estate".

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Spirited and bubbly, but handsome and preppy too, Darby is a surname style choice that fits in well with the likes of Alby and Lennox. 
 
Derived ultimately from Old Norse, as a surname, it likely emerged in reference to the English town Derby (pronounced the same).
 
Darby works particularly well with an O' surname, as in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' and it could also be a unisex option (and is now more popular for girls in the US).
 
Patrick Dempsey chose it for one of his twin boys back in 2007.

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Darby

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The name Darby peaked for boys at #721 in 1970. The name is most popular in California. Darby is occasionally used for girls in 2025.

Derby

The name Darby is a girl's name of English, Irish, Norse origin meaning "free from envy; from the deer estate".

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Once a common boy name in Ireland, the dynamic Darby now has a definite unisex feel. A bit like a mash up between Darcy and Ruby, it appeared in the US Top 1000 in the 90s, peaking in 1995 when it reached #499. It's likely this sudden interest in Darby was owing to the 90s book and film, The Pelican Brief, starring Julia Roberts as a law student called Darby.
 
A name with two separate origins, Darby may be considered English surname, meaning "from the deer estate", ultimately derived from Old Norse elements djúr "animal, deer" and býr" settlement". It would have been traditionally used as a last name for those from the English town of Derby. 
 
Alternatively, the name has Irish roots, and was used as a diminutive for the surname Ó Diarmada, meaning "descendent of Diarmaid", or, if you borrow Diamaid's meaning, "free from envy".
 
Actor Paul Rudd has a daughter named Darby and it has also featured in a Winnie-the-Pooh spin-off called My Friends Tigger & Pooh and in the TV series Love Life in which Anna Kendrick played a Darby. 
 
While Darby feels like it could fit in with modern trends, it has actually been on the decline in the US, with just 50 girls and 10 boys called Darby in a recent year. At its 90s peak, nearly 500 girls were given the name.

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The name Darby peaked for girls at #499 in 1995. The name is most popular in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Alabama. Darby is occasionally used for boys in 2025.

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
2014	#3,628	29	15.1
2015	#3,902	27	14.1
2016	—	0	0
2017	#4,498	22	11.9
2018	#3,549	31	17.1
2019	#4,836	20	11.1
2020	—	0	0
2021	#4,519	22	12.6
2022	—	0	0
2023	#4,911	20	11.7
2024	—	0	0
2025	—	0	0

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