The surname Kilby is most commonly believed to refer to those originating in the town of Kilby in England. The town of Kilby has existed for more than 1000 years. It is probable that all Kilbys descend from a family or group of families that originated in or around the town of Kilby, with the exception of those who may have either taken their surname from a Kilby household where they were employed, or a servant, or a slave.  That said, we have no evidence nor do we infer that any of the Kilby family histories at the Kilby Genealogy Community are genetically connected; therefore, we present each as an independent and separate family which only share the commoness of their surname.

Surnames came into use as a unique method to distinguish persons with the same given (Christian) name. The earliest surnames were descriptive of the owner in some way; such as a relationship to some one: Williamson (the son of William) or Johnson (the son of John); or occupation: Miller or Smith; or place of origin: London or York. Also surnames could be descriptive of the person; Joy or Bright; or something associated with them like a color.

Although we use the most common spelling of our surname here, we do not exclude other variations. Generally, we consider like sounding spellings to be the same surname. Therefore Kilbee, Kilbey, Kilbeye, and every other spelling (see the article by Craig M. Kilby, Origin of the Kilby Name) are just as welcome here.

However one acquired the surname Kilby, they are no less Kilbys. This site is dedicated to the advancement of research of all Kilby family genealogical history throughout the world. If you bear the name Kilby or are descended from a Kilby or are married to a Kilby; then this is your site.

Currently we have four Kilby families which appear at present to exist wholly in the United Kingdom, one Kilby family which has descendants both in the England and United States, one Kilby family with descendants both in Canada and the United States, one Kilby family with descendants in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, and four Kilby families which appear to exist wholly in the United States.

There are possibly two Kilby families that exist in Australia, one Kilby family in New Zealand, and evidently at least one Kilby family of African origins in the United States. We would like to include these Kilby families and every Kilby family and their history at the Kilby Genealogy Community.

Our objective is to simplify the research process for all Kilbys. Often, those just starting out on the road to discovering their Kilby family history, spend much of their time and energy covering the same ground that others have. If we can get you acquainted with family doing research on your Kilby family, we can better focus our efforts on what is yet to be discovered.

If you share the Kilby surname and are just passing through, we ask that you take a few moments and share with us a little about your family; your family is part of our family. You have invaluable information that could often be useful in solving some mysteries, filling in gaps, or bringing us up to date.

For those of you that have been soured by the Internet experience and have become mistrustful of the motivations of people offering what seems to be free, let me assure you that there is no ulterior motive here. Any information you share will be used exclusively for the benefit of Kilby surname research. We make every effort to ensure that nothing other than names and relationships are publicly displayed for living people. In other words; your birth date, birth place, and all information pertaining to where you reside, will be excluded from publicly accessible areas of this site.