# Darby (name)

Darby is an English locational surname and has since become a given name. Its prefix derives from the Old Norse djúr ("deer"), and the suffix -býr ("farm"/"settlement"). The oldest recorded surname dates to the period of 1160–1182 in Lincolnshire. Darby was a common pre-1800 alternative spelling of Derby, a city in England. Notable people with the name or its variants include:

## Surname
### Darby

* Abiah Darby (1716–1794), English minister
* Abraham Darby I (1678–1717), British ironmaster and pioneer of coke-fired smelting
* Abraham Darby II (1711–1763), British ironmaster, son of Abraham I
* Abraham Darby III (1750–1791), British ironmaster, builder of the world's first iron bridge
* Abraham Darby IV (1804–1878), British ironmaster
* Adrian Darby (born 1937), British environmentalist
* Al Darby (born 1954), American football player
* Alden Darby (born 1992), Canadian football defensive back
* Angie Darby (born 1987), Australian modern pentathlete
* Anthony Darby (born 1972), Australian footballer
* Arthur Darby (1876–1960), British rugby union player
* Brandon Darby (born 1976), American conservative blogger and activist
* Brent Darby (1981–2011), American basketball player
* Brett Darby (born 1983), English footballer
* Byron Darby (born 1960), American football defensive end
* Chad Darby (born 1981), American musician
* Chris Darby (born 1950s), New Zealand politician in Auckland
* Christopher Darby Griffith (1804–1885), British Member of parliament for Devizes
* Chuck Darby (born 1975), American football player
* Craig Darby (born 1972), American ice hockey center
* Dick Darby (1919–1993), British Bishop of Sherwood
* Douglas Darby (1910–1985), Australian politician
* Drew Darby (born 1947), politician in Texas
* Duane Darby (born 1973), English footballer
* Edward Darby (1888–?), British World War I flying ace
* Frank Darby (born 1997), American football player
* George Darby (1720–1790), Anglo-Irish vice-admiral in the British Royal Navy
* George Darby (baseball) (1869–1937), American baseball player
* George Darby (politician) (1798–1877), British politician
* Harry Darby (1895–1987), United States Senator
* J. N. Darby, a pen-name of American juvenile fiction writer Christine N. Govan (1897–1985)
* J. N. Darby, a pen-name of American author and naturalist Mary Q. Steele (1922–1992)
* John Darby (NASCAR official), American NASCAR Cup Series race director
* John Fletcher Darby (1803–1882), United States Congressman
* John M. Darby (1804–1877), American botanist and academic
* John Nelson Darby, British theologian, leader of the Plymouth Brethren, founder of the Darbyites and translator of the Darby Bible
* Joseph Darby, American military policeman and whistleblower
* Julian Darby (born 1967), English footballer
* Kim Darby (born 1947), American actress
* Mary Darby, maiden name of British poet Mary Robinson
* Matthew Darby (born 1967), British conservationist and publisher
* Newman Darby (1928–2016), American inventor
* Rhys Darby (born 1974), New Zealand comedian and actor
* Richard Darby, American attorney and judge; appointed Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court in April 2018
* Séamus Darby (born 1950), Irish Gaelic footballer
* Shawn Darby (1966-) American Professional motorcycle builder and designer
* Sir Henry D'Esterre Darby (1750–1823), Anglo-Irish admiral in the British Royal Navy
* Stephen Darby (born 1989), English footballer
* Steve Darby (born 1955), English football coach and pundit
* Thomas Darby, inventor of the Darby Steam-Digger
* Tom Darby, half of the country music duo Darby and Tarlton
* Will Darby, American politician
* William Darby (priest) (died 1791), Anglican Archdeacon in Ireland in the late nineteenth century
* William J. Darby (1913–2001), American physician and nutrition scientist
* William Orlando Darby (1911–1945), U.S. Army officer, commander of Darby's Rangers

### D'Arby

* Josie d'Arby (born 1972), British actress
* Terence Trent D'Arby (born 1962), American singer-songwriter

## Given name

* Darby Allin (born 1997), American wrestler
* Darby Bailey, American actress, musician, songwriter, writer/producer, and businesswoman
* Darby Bergin (1826–1896), Ontario physician and political figure
* Darby Berkhout (born 1966), Canadian rower
* Darby Brown (1929–1988), Australian boxer of the 1940s and '50s
* Darby Camp (born 2007), American actress
* Darby Conley (born 1970), American cartoonist creator of Get Fuzzy
* Darby Cottle (born 1961), American softball player
* Darby Cowgill (born 2011), Programmer
* Darby Crash (1958–1980), American musician, from the band The Germs
* Darby Dougherty, American actress in the film Gummo
* Darby Dunn, American journalist and reporter
* Darby Field (1610–1649), British, first European to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire
* Darby Gould (born 1965), American vocalist
* Darby Hendrickson (born 1972), American hockey player and coach
* Darby Hinton (born 1957), American actor and filmmaker
* Darby Jones (1910–1986), American actor
* Darby Lloyd Rains (born 1948), American adult film performer
* Darby Loudon (1897–1963), New Zealand-born rugby union player
* Darby Lux II (1737–1795), American businessman, militiaman in the American Revolution
* Darby McCarthy (1944–2020), Australian jockey
* Darby McDevitt (born 1975), American game developer and writer
* Darby Mills, Canadian rock vocalist
* Darby Nelson (1940 –2022), American writer and politician
* Darby O'Brien (1863–1893), American baseball player
* Darby Penney (1952–2021), American writer, activist
* Darby Riordan (1888–1936), Australian politician
* Darby Slick (born 1944), American guitarist and songwriter
* Darby Stanchfield (born 1971), American film and television actress
* Darby W. Betts (1912–1998), American Episcopal priest
* Darby Walker (born 1974), Canadian ice hockey player

## Fictional characters

* Ernest Darby, on the television series Sons of Anarchy
* Daniel J. D'Arby, from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series
* Darby O'Gill, in the writings of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
* Darby Carter, on the television series Love Life as portrayed by Anna Kendrick
* Darby Shaw, in the film The Pelican Brief played by Julia Roberts
* Darby, a character who replaced Christopher Robin in the animated television show, My Friends Tigger and Pooh