Kolbie
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the English word "coal".
Name Census estimates that about 1,778 living Americans carry the first name Kolbie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Kolbie today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kolbie births was 2020 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kolbie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kolbie with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Kolbie is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 192,775 Americans
Peak year
2020
95 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,414
Tracked since 1988
Census
Kolbie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,266 people with the first name Kolbie, which placed it at #10,504 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,504
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kolbie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kolbie is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Black (5.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kolbie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kolbie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 1,038
- Two or more races7.0% · 88
- Black or African American5.5% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Kolbie
Kolbie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,798 total registrations, 425 (23.6%) were male and 1,373 (76.4%) were female.
Kolbie as a male name
- Ranked #13,325 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (25 births)
Kolbie as a female name
- Ranked #2,414 in 2024
- 75 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (83 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kolbie on both sides of the split. Of the 1,262 people counted with this name, 323 were male (25.6%) and 939 were female (74.4%).
Popularity
Kolbie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kolbie from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 748 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kolbie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kolbie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kolbie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kolbies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Kolbie, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kolbie
The name Kolbie is a relatively modern name with uncertain origins. It is believed to be a variation of the English name Colby, which itself is derived from an Old Norse place name meaning "coal town" or "dark town."
While the name Kolbie does not have a long historical record, it may have been influenced by the popularity of similar-sounding names like Colby, Kobe, and Koby. The addition of the "ie" ending gives it a more feminine and contemporary feel.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kolbie is from the late 20th century. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until the early 2000s. During this time, it may have been influenced by the rise of celebrity names with unique spellings and pronunciations.
Despite its relatively recent emergence, there are a few notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kolbie or variations thereof. One example is Kolbie Knab (1989-present), an American professional soccer player who has played for several teams in the National Women's Soccer League.
Another individual with the name Kolbie is Kolbie Sanders (1991-present), an American actress and model who has appeared in television shows and films such as "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Last Song."
In the world of music, there is Kolbie Landry (1988-present), a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress who has released several albums and performed in various stage productions.
While the name Kolbie may not have a long and storied history, it has gained popularity in recent decades and has been borne by several notable individuals across various fields. Its unique spelling and sound have contributed to its appeal as a modern and distinctive name choice.
People
Kolbie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kolbie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kolbie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kolbie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,778 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kolbie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 192,775 US residents.
Is Kolbie a common name?
We classify Kolbie as "Rare". It ranks above 93.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,798 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kolbie most popular?
The single biggest year for Kolbie was 2020, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kolbie is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kolbie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,266 people with the name Kolbie, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,504 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kolbie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kolbie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kolbie on both sides of the split. Of the 1,262 people counted with this name, 323 were male (25.6%) and 939 were female (74.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kolbie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kolbie is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Black (5.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kolbie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kolbie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (1,038 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kolbie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kolbie a female name?
Yes, 76.4% of people registered as Kolbie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kolbie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kolbie in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kolbie can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Kolbie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.