Goolsby
An English surname most likely built from a place-name ending in -by, meaning a village or farmstead.
The #4,596 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,988 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Goolsby is likely a habitational surname formed from the name of a lost or obscure English place, with the final element -by coming from Old Norse and meaning "farmstead," "settlement," or "village." The first element is less certain and may reflect an older personal name, descriptive term, or local topographic feature that has been obscured over time. In that sense, the surname probably began as "from X-by," identifying someone who came from a particular settlement.
History
Surnames ending in -by are especially common in parts of England once influenced by Scandinavian settlement, particularly the north and east. Goolsby is uncommon today and is best understood as a later family-name survival of an older place-name form, possibly altered in spelling as it was carried into records and then to North America. In the United States it is now concentrated as a relatively rare surname rather than a widely distributed one.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The -by ending is the same Norse place-name element found in many English surnames and towns, such as Derby and Grimsby.