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.^[1] 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
• 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
• 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 Bannard (1934–2016), American abstract painter
• 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 Crash (1958–1980), American musician, from the band The Germs
• Darby Cowgill (born 2011), Professional stupid
• 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