Coal — boys' name
169 babies named Coal in U.S. Social Security records since 1994, with the highest year being 2016. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
49% of everyone ever named Coal was born in this single decade.
14 babies were named Coal in 2016 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Coal
The Social Security Administration has registered 169 babies named Coal between 1994 and 2022, spanning 29 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Coal currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 2022. The name reached its historical peak in 2016, when 14 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Coal performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 83 births during that ten-year window. Across the 4 decades of recorded activity, Coal shows a clear decline from its mid-century high.
No etymological entry is currently available for Coal in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 169 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Coal at a glance
Last recorded 2022Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Coal popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2022–1994
- Peak year (2016)
- 14
- Annual births at peak — across 29 years of records
No longer in the modern top-1000 — last recorded 2022.
169 total births across 29 years of SSA records. Peaked in 2016 with 14 births in a single year.
Coal by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 2010s
- 83 births that decade — 49% of Coal's all-time total
Coal decade highlights
- Peak decade 83 births
- Runner-up 68 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
2010s was Coal's strongest decade
83 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 49% of all-time use.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Coal
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Compare Coal side by side: Coal vs Coast Coal vs Coady Coal vs Coalton
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1994–2022 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.