• Origin: English
• Meaning: “willow farm.”
• Gender: unisex

From the transferred use of the English place and surname, it is from the Anglo-Norse elements, welig (willow) and býr (farm, settlement).

It is the name of several towns in England, U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

By the 16th-century, there were already records of its use as a male name in England. By the 18th-century, it is already being used on females, especially in Norfolk.

Among males, it was born by three Aston Baronets, the first being Sir Willoughby Aston (1640-1702). It was born by American architect, Willoughby James Edbrooke (1843–1896), and English actor, Willoughby Gray (1996-1993).