This term is never used in the active voice. So you would never hear “His parents survived him”.
This term “survived by” has a slightly serious, journalistic tone. When it is used, it has a respectful connotation, and it seems cautious in tone, almost as if it were a way to respect the loss of the person who died.
The usage for the preposition “by”——
When you have a *transitive verb*, the passive voice can be often formed by using “by”:
Active voice: The bird eats the bread
Passive voice: The bread is eaten by the bird
——
So, going back to “survived by”- it is an example of a transitive verb (I recommend researching what transitive and intransitive verbs are on Google) that uses “by”. But it is one that is only used in the passive voice.
In general, this term holds the implication that surviving someone is an action done to that person
I recommend searching on Google: passive voice transitive verbs