Darby

See also: darby

English

Etymology

From the English place name Derby, from Old Norse djúr (“deer”) + býr (“settlement”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːbi/

Proper noun

Darby (plural Darbys)

1. A habitational surname from Old Norse.
2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
   • 2000, David Pierce, Irish Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader. Cork University Press. →ISBN, page 8:

     The man whom you call Diarmaid when you speak Irish, a low, pernicious, un-Irish, detestable custom, begot by slavery, and propagated by cringing, and fostered by flunkeyism, forces you to call Jeremiah when you speak English, or as a concession, Darby.

3. A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage.
   • 1992 John Grisham, The Pelican Brief, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 52:

     "You could always pick names, Thomas. I remember women you turned down because you didn't like their names. Gorgeous, hot women, but with flat names. Darby. Has a nice, erotic touch to it. What a name.

4. Misspelling of Derby.

Usage notes

Used as an Anglicisation of Diarmaid in Ireland.

Quotations

• 1735 Henry Woodfall: The Joy of Love never forgot, The Gentlemen's Magazine, March 1735, volume 5, page 153:

  Old Darby, with Joan by his side, / You've often regarded with wonder.

• 1885 Frances Mabel Robinson, Mr. Butler's Ward, Vizetelly, page 95:

  "Theatre and saltpetre are both spelt that way, Arthur; depend upon it, it is Deirder - a sort of peasant name like Darby and Biddy, a corruption of something else."

Anagrams

• Brady, Byard, bardy, brady, brady-, byard