Kirby is an English surname from place names in the old Danelaw, built from the Old Norse kirkja, church, and byr, farm or settlement, so it means "church village". It has been used for both sexes for a century, and Nintendo's round pink Kirby has made the name familiar to a new generation. For girls Kirby ranked number 2881 in 2000, dipped in the 2010s, then recovered to number 2545 in 2024 and number 2671 in 2025 with 65 births.