Shelby
A surname that most often began as a place name, originally meaning someone from a curved or shelf-like settlement.
The #2,912 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,095 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Shelby is usually explained as a locational surname from a place name in England. The first element is commonly taken to be Old English "scylfe" or a related word meaning a ledge, shelf, or steep ridge, while the second element is "-by," a common place-name ending in the Danelaw area meaning a settlement or farm. In that reading, the name described someone who came from a settlement near a shelf-like hill or ridge. Some place-name forms may also reflect later Scandinavian influence on English naming.
History
The surname appears in English records as a place-derived family name and later spread with English migration to North America and other English-speaking regions. It is also familiar as a given name in the United States, which has helped keep it visible beyond the surname tradition. Because several English place names can underlie it, different Shelby families may have independent origins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Shelby is one of several English surnames built from a place name ending in -by, a marker strongly associated with Viking-age settlement.