# Kirby (surname)

Kirby is a surname of Scandinavian then Irish and English origin. Names ending in 'by' are Nordic like the place names in Sweden such as Visby, Hellingsby etc. The Irish surname is an anglicisation of Ó Ciarmhaic, is Kerwick, while the English surname is from the Old Norse "kirkja" + "býr" meaning "church" + "settlement". Notable people with the surname include:
* Abner Kirby (1818–1893), mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
* Adam Kirby (born 1980s), jockey
* Alan Kirby (born 1977), Irish footballer
* Alex Kirby (disambiguation)
* Alister Kirby (1886–1917), British rower at the 1912 Summer Olympics
* Andy Kirby (1961–2002), stock car driver and motorcycle racer
* Bill Kirby (born 1975), Australian swimmer
* Bruce Kirby (disambiguation)
* Bruno Kirby (1949–2006), American film and television actor
* Cam Kirby (1909–2003), Canadian politician
* Cecil Kirby (born 1950), Canadian outlaw biker and criminal.
* Charles Kirk Kirby (1826–1910), American architect
* Chauncey Kirby, Canadian ice hockey player
* Claire Kirby (born 1987), New Zealand beauty queen
* Clay Kirby (1948–1991), Major League Baseball pitcher
* Connor Kirby (born 1998), English football player
* Dale Kirby (born 1971), Canadian politician
* David Kirby (disambiguation)
* David Kirby (journalist), journalist
* David Kirby (judge) (born 1943), judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
* David Kirby (poet) (born 1944), American poet
* Dean Kirby, American politician
* Dorothy Kirby, American golfer and sportscaster
* Doug Kirby (born 1957), American author
* Douglas Kirby (1943–2012), research scientist
* Durward Kirby (1912–2000), television personality
* Edmund Kirby (1838–1920), English architect
* Edward Kirby (1901–1968), American athlete
* Edward M. Kirby (1906–1974), American public relations manager and US Army colonel
* Eric Kirby (footballer) (1926–2018), English footballer
* Fran Kirby (born 1993), English footballer
* Frank E. Kirby (1849–1929), Detroit designer of steamships in the early 20th century
* Frank Howard Kirby (1871–1956), British soldier
* Frank Kirby (disambiguation)
* Fred Kirby (1910–1996), American country-and-western recording and performance artist and songwriter
* Gary Kirby (born 1967), Irish hurling manager and player
* Gene Kirby (?–2011), American Major League Baseball announcer and front office executive
* George Kirby (1923–1995), comedian
* George Kirby (baseball) (born 1998), Major League Baseball pitcher
* Gerald Kirby (disambiguation)
* Gustavus Town Kirby (1874–1956), American lawyer
* Halder Kirby, Canadian ice hockey player
* Harold Kirby (zoologist) (1900–1952), Canadian-American zoologist and protistologist
* Harold James Kirby (1895–1956), lawyer, real estate agent, and political figure in Ontario
* Henry Kirby (1889–1976), English cricketer
* Jack Kirby (1917–1994), comic book artist
* Jake Kirby (born 1994), English football midfielder
* James Kirby (died 1915), American labor leader
* Jane Kirby, Canadian figure skater
* Jay Kirby (1920–1964), American actor
* Jim Kirby (1884–1971), inventor
* John Henry Kirby (1860–1940), American businessman
* John Joshua Kirby (1716–1774), British landscape painter, engraver, and writer
* John Kirby (artist) (born 1949), British painter
* John Kirby (attorney), US attorney involved in some famous trials and the namesake of Kirby, the video game character
* John Kirby (Canadian politician) (1772–1846), Canadian businessman and politician
* John Kirby (disambiguation)
* Jon Luke Kirby (born 1998), English rugby league player
* Joseph Coles Kirby (1837–1924), Australian Congregational minister
* Josh Kirby (1928–2001), British illustrator known for his Discworld covers
* Joshua Kirby (1716–1774), British artist
* Kathy Kirby (1938–2011), British singer
* Kayle Kirby (born 1998), Australian rules footballer
* Ken Kirby, Canadian-born actor and screenwriter
* Kenneth Kirby, South African chess master
* Kier M. Kirby, singer of Deee-Lite
* Lee-Ann Kirby (born 1987), Trinidad and Tobago cricketer
* Leyland Kirby, English electronic musician
* Louis Kirby (1928–2006), British newspaper editor
* Luke Kirby (actor), Canadian film actor
* Luke Kirby (priest) (1540s–1582), Catholic Priest and martyr
* Matt Kirby, Queensland, Australian XR Festival & Qld XR Festival Founder
* Micajah W. Kirby (1798–1882), New York politician
* Michael J. L. Kirby (born 1941), Canadian senator and Chair of the Mental Health Commission
* Michael Kirby (judge) (born 1939), Justice of the High Court of Australia
* Paul Kirby (born 1966), Australian politician
* Pauline Kirby (1905–1981), American army nurse
* Rene Kirby (born 1955), American male actor
* Richard Kirby (arbitrator) (1904–2001), Australian arbitrator
* Robert Kirby (musician) (1948–2009), British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music
* Robert Kirby (cartoonist) (born 1962), American cartoonist
* Robion Kirby (born 1938), American mathematician
* Roger Kirby (born 1950), British urologist and surgeon
* Rome Kirby, American sailor
* Ryan Kirby (born 1974), English soccer player
* Sandra Kirby (born 1949), Canadian academic and rower
* Simone Kirby, Irish actress
* Stephen Kirby, American author and critic of Islam
* Steve Kirby (cricketer), English cricketer
* Steve T. Kirby (born 1952), Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota
* Stuart Kirby (born 1981), race car driver
* Sylvia Kirby (born 1956), American country singer
* Terry Kirby (born 1970), American football player
* Vanessa Kirby (born 1988), English actress
* Wallace W. Kirby (1881–1962), director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
* Wayne Kirby (born 1964), American baseball player and coach
* Will Kirby (born 1973), Big Brother contestant
* William C. Kirby (born 1950), Historian at Harvard University
* William F. Kirby (1867–1934), Senator from Arkansas
* William Forsell Kirby (1844–1912), later English entomologist
* William Kirby (author), Canadian author of The Golden Dog
* William Kirby (entomologist) (1759–1850), English entomologist

## Fictional characters

* Paul Kirby, a character in the 2001 American science fiction movie Jurassic Park III