Colby
Major Settlement in the Parish of Colby
Historical Forms
- Colebei 1086 DB
- Colebi 1191 P 1199 1269,1286 Ass 1275 RH
- Coleby 1199to1311 FF 1254–75 Val 1254 NfA 1267,1269 Ipm 1275 RH 1286 Ass 1307 Ipm 1316 FA 1335 Pat
- Colby 1275 RH 1314 Ipm 1316to1354 FF 1321 Ch 1328 Banco 1535 VE
- Colleby 1275 RH
- Coulbye 1510 Speed
Etymology
The old spellings suggest that the first element of this village-name in -by is a Scand pers.n., the weakly inflected ODan , OSwed , OWScand Koli (DGP I 776, SMPs, Lind 705), a weak side-form of Kollr . Feilitzen (217) explains Koli as a short form of compounds in Kol -. He thinks there was also a native OE Cola , but he considers the OE name unlikely in Colby (v. Insley 275 ff., Sandred 1988: 20).