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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Kolbe

33 replies

eleanorsmellstrop · 23/09/2022 19:09

Have you ever heard of this name being used for a boy?

My friend says it's well-known as a name because of the saint, but I wonder if this is only in Catholic communities? (She's from the USA so also wondering if it might just be known in America).

Pronounced similarly to Colby, although slightly different.

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Stichintimesavesstapling · 23/09/2022 19:32

I associate it with the learning theorist

AmandaMirandaPanda · 23/09/2022 19:30

I'm in the USA and I have never heard of Kolbe except as a German surname (or Colby, an English village and a cheese). The Social Security Adminisration which tracks name use does not seem to think it is very popular either.

jazzwink · 23/09/2022 19:26

Sorry, posted too soon.
The cell in which he died.

jazzwink · 23/09/2022 19:25

I think it might be an American thing and very local to that. Turning surnames into first names is not a thing is Germany or Poland, which is where Maximilian Kolbe died starved to death in a Nazi concentration camp run by Germans during the second world war. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe
It's a very emotionally loaded name and I would not burden a child with it unless it has a deep meaning to you.
If you go to Auschwitz concentration camp, you can actually view the cell in which

Original poster
eleanorsmellstrop · 23/09/2022 19:17

(but again, this might just be in American Catholic communities, so this is why I'm asking MN!)

OP posts:
Original poster
eleanorsmellstrop · 23/09/2022 19:16

It's not linked to Kobe, but I know what you mean! It's apparently a German surname which came into use as a first name after St Maximilian Kolbe. But I've never met a baby Kolbe (or any adult one ) in my life, although my friend says it is well known as a boy's name

OP posts:
ShowOfHands · 23/09/2022 19:15

No but I think IKEA use it as the name for a bijou storage system in pastel tones.

ofwarren · 23/09/2022 19:11

I've never heard of it
Made me think of the name Kobe when I read it.

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