Explore the Family Name Bilby

The meaning of Bilby

English: 1. variant of Bielby. 2. shortened form of Bilsby, a habitational name from Bilsby in Lincolnshire, so named with the Old Norse personal name Billi + bȳ ‘farmstead, settlement’. However, it is equally possible that Bilsby is an altered form of Bilby, with an intrusive -s-.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Bilby in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Bilby experienced a slight decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 23,547th and this rank fell to 23,691st by 2010, a change of -0.61%. However, despite a drop in rank, the count for individuals bearing the surname Bilby saw a rise from 1,005 in 2000 to 1,069 in 2010, which indicates an increase of 6.37%. The proportion per 100,000 people also decreased slightly from 0.37 to 0.36 in the same period, marking a -2.7% change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#23,547	#23,691	-0.61%
Count	1,005	1,069	6.37%
Proportion per 100k	0.37	0.36	-2.7%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bilby

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Bilby has seen some changes over the decade as well, according to the U.S. Decennial Census data. While there was a notable increase in the Asian/Pacific Islander group from 0.90% to 1.68%, and a significant rise in American Indian and Alaskan Native representation from 1.49% to 3.46%, the percentage of those identifying as White dropped a bit from 91.64% to 88.96%. Those claiming two or more races remained relatively stable, decreasing slightly from 4.28% to 4.12%. Interestingly, there were no respondents identifying as Hispanic or Black in 2010, while there had been a small percentage in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.64%	88.96%	-2.92%
Two or More Races	4.28%	4.12%	-3.74%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.49%	3.46%	132.21%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.9%	1.68%	86.67%
Hispanic	1.09%	0%	0%
Black	0.6%	0%	0%