US births per decade — source: Social Security Administration
Darby is more commonly given to girls than boys in the United States, reaching peak popularity in the 1970s. There are approximately 10,000 people named Darby in the US today.
The name Darby's root letters are DB.
The letters D and B are both pronounced with an explosive action designed to attract attention. The letter D -- created by the tongue making light contact with the palate -- evokes an individual of quiet dignity and self-discipline, while the belligerent letter B suggests bellicosity. Some of the unyielding and forceful qualities of the DB phoneme can be seen in the words: admirable, disobey, disbar, debauch, debate, drub, durable, laudable, redoubt, and hardbound. This is why many women (Debbie, Darby and Debbi) choose to mitigate these severe effects by appending the infantalizing IE or Y sound at the end of their names, in the same way a mother of small children uses words like booties, doggy, kitty, and footsies.
Strength of character is unquestionably the Darbys’ hallmark trait, though in their worst moments, it can appear to be more like pure mule-headed stubbornness. So don’t be dismayed when your DB friend criticizes you to your face…they truly have your interests at heart and at least they aren’t bad-mouthing you behind your back. This is at the root of the Darbys’ legendary loyalty; short of insulting their mothers, there’s little you can do to shake their friendship. Still, Darbys are quite competitive and in some situations, will try and outshine those whom they perceive to be rivals. Female Darbys, in particular, are famous for these Queen Bee complexes while male Darbys have the persistence of telemarketers.
It’s easy to overlook the dark sides of these charismatic individuals, for their weakness are only revealed to those they trust. And it’s not like they get jealous in the traditional sense – it’s more of a competitive thing born of insecurity. Darbys have such a strong need to wield power in their relationships, that they even subconsciously sabotage their unions in an effort to leverage control.
For all their hardheaded obduracy, Darbys are not without their sensitive sides. With powerful instincts for empathizing with people’s feelings and motivations, Darbys tend to unconsciously respond to the underlying meaning of a conversation, rather than the actual words. And since they tend to trust their instincts so completely, trying to change their minds once they’ve passed judgment on someone is likely to be impossible.
DB mates are one third idealistic, one third practical, and one third impossible. Often they will be more like one of the kids than the heads of the household. The key with Darbys is to hit on something they care about, then harness their emotional energies to get things done.
