Phonetic transliteration mapping 'Kir-/Ko-' onto
柯 (kē) and '-by/-be' onto
比 (bǐ). Common renderings include:
柯比 for Nintendo's pink hero
卡比/
柯比 (Kirby), and occasionally for the surname 'Kirby' (e.g. Marvel artist Jack Kirby,
杰克·
柯比). Note that NBA legend Kobe Bryant is more often written
科比 (Kēbǐ) with
科 instead — same pronunciation, different first character. The choice of
柯 (a tree branch) vs
科 (a discipline / division) is purely stylistic.