Wilby Family History

English:: habitational name from any of the places called Wilby in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Northamptonshire. The first placename is probably named from an Old English wilig ‘willow’ + Old English bēag ‘circle ring’; the Norfolk placename derives from Old English wilig + bēag or Old Norse bý ‘farmstead village’; the Northamptonshire placename derives from the Old Norse personal name Vili + bý.

Redmonds has demonstrated that in the parish of Hipperholme and subsequently elsewhere in Yorkshire, Wilby occurs as a variant of Willoughby.