Bixby
An English locational surname, probably from a place-name meaning “village among box-trees.”
The #8,114 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,562 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Bixby is usually treated as a locational name, ultimately from a place-name built with a word for “box-tree” and a settlement element such as “farm” or “village.” One 19th-century source specifically explains it as “the house or village among the box-trees,” and another connects it with a place-name form like Bigby. The ending -by is often associated with Scandinavian influence in English place-names, especially in areas of eastern and northern England.
History
Early surname writers linked Bixby to English local surnames from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, and possibly Herefordshire. The form appears alongside variants such as Bigsby, suggesting a long period of spelling variation before modern standardization. In the United States it remained relatively uncommon, but it has been present since the immigrant era and is now a recognized minor surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The -by ending in Bixby is the same old place-name element seen in many English names of Scandinavian origin, meaning a farm or village.
From the historical record
“river, now corrupted to Birnie. BIXBY. (Danish.) Local. The house or village among the box-trees. N BLACKBURN. Local The black brook or stream. BLACKWOOD. Local. This family derived their name from the lands of Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, in Scotland, called Blackwood.”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names