Colin
Colin was given to 950 boys in 2025, #343 among boys’ names; 134,151 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 127,000 Americans named Colin and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (94% of everyone recorded); the median is 24 years old and half are between 17 and 36.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Colin by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Colin mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Colin is “a male given name”
Also “a diminutive of the male given name Nicholas, from Ancient Greek.”
(given name):
Coll + -in. Diminutive of Coll, a medieval short form of Nicholas.
It has also been used to anglicize Irish Coileán and Scottish Gaelic Cailean.
/ˈkɑlɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Colin?
#343 among boys’ names, 2025
Colin fell from #172 in 2015 to #343 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.3 to 0.56 per 1,000.
5,147 babies in 2004, the peak
Colin peaked in 2004, when 5,147 babies were given it (5,122 boys, #85 among boys’ names). The 950 births of 2025 are 18% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 950 | #343 | 0.56 |
| 2024 | 1,038 | #335 | 0.60 |
| 2023 | 1,004 | #334 | 0.59 |
| 2022 | 1,170 | #293 | 0.67 |
| 2021 | 1,289 | #269 | 0.74 |
| 2020 | 1,177 | #287 | 0.68 |
| 2019 | 1,394 | #260 | 0.78 |
| 2018 | 1,479 | #249 | 0.81 |
| 2017 | 1,666 | #228 | 0.90 |
| 2016 | 2,052 | #198 | 1.1 |
Every recorded year (135)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,424 | #172 | 1.3 |
| 2014 | 2,883 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 2013 | 3,041 | #125 | 1.6 |
| 2012 | 3,022 | #124 | 1.6 |
| 2011 | 3,265 | #121 | 1.7 |
| 2010 | 3,489 | #111 | 1.8 |
| 2009 | 3,657 | #113 | 1.8 |
| 2008 | 3,732 | #114 | 1.8 |
| 2007 | 3,608 | #119 | 1.7 |
| 2006 | 3,861 | #111 | 1.9 |
| 2005 | 4,532 | #95 | 2.3 |
| 2004 | 5,122 | #85 | 2.6 |
| 2003 | 4,876 | #88 | 2.5 |
| 2002 | 3,315 | #116 | 1.7 |
| 2001 | 3,170 | #125 | 1.6 |
| 2000 | 3,256 | #117 | 1.7 |
| 1999 | 3,080 | #119 | 1.6 |
| 1998 | 3,076 | #122 | 1.6 |
| 1997 | 3,099 | #125 | 1.6 |
| 1996 | 2,954 | #126 | 1.6 |
| 1995 | 2,630 | #134 | 1.4 |
| 1994 | 2,815 | #124 | 1.5 |
| 1993 | 2,897 | #121 | 1.5 |
| 1992 | 2,631 | #126 | 1.3 |
| 1991 | 2,294 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1990 | 2,782 | #122 | 1.4 |
| 1989 | 2,604 | #126 | 1.3 |
| 1988 | 2,258 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1987 | 2,098 | #134 | 1.1 |
| 1986 | 1,690 | #158 | 0.92 |
| 1985 | 1,738 | #156 | 0.94 |
| 1984 | 1,768 | #152 | 1.0 |
| 1983 | 1,557 | #166 | 0.87 |
| 1982 | 1,536 | #171 | 0.85 |
| 1981 | 1,227 | #202 | 0.69 |
| 1980 | 1,196 | #204 | 0.67 |
| 1979 | 1,141 | #207 | 0.66 |
| 1978 | 946 | #223 | 0.58 |
| 1977 | 826 | #248 | 0.50 |
| 1976 | 790 | #250 | 0.50 |
| 1975 | 706 | #273 | 0.45 |
| 1974 | 666 | #282 | 0.42 |
| 1973 | 561 | #312 | 0.36 |
| 1972 | 566 | #321 | 0.35 |
| 1971 | 658 | #300 | 0.37 |
| 1970 | 624 | #314 | 0.34 |
| 1969 | 578 | #321 | 0.32 |
| 1968 | 502 | #343 | 0.29 |
| 1967 | 445 | #354 | 0.26 |
| 1966 | 403 | #376 | 0.23 |
| 1965 | 452 | #360 | 0.24 |
| 1964 | 390 | #405 | 0.20 |
| 1963 | 391 | #406 | 0.19 |
| 1962 | 350 | #428 | 0.17 |
| 1961 | 356 | #420 | 0.17 |
| 1960 | 295 | #463 | 0.14 |
| 1959 | 323 | #443 | 0.15 |
| 1958 | 281 | #471 | 0.13 |
| 1957 | 269 | #473 | 0.12 |
| 1956 | 286 | #445 | 0.14 |
| 1955 | 256 | #461 | 0.12 |
| 1954 | 244 | #464 | 0.12 |
| 1953 | 213 | #480 | 0.11 |
| 1952 | 198 | #500 | 0.10 |
| 1951 | 194 | #484 | 0.10 |
| 1950 | 195 | #475 | 0.11 |
| 1949 | 210 | #455 | 0.12 |
| 1948 | 221 | #448 | 0.13 |
| 1947 | 176 | #510 | 0.10 |
| 1946 | 148 | #526 | 0.09 |
| 1945 | 125 | #534 | 0.09 |
| 1944 | 237 | #394 | 0.17 |
| 1943 | 320 | #345 | 0.22 |
| 1942 | 349 | #323 | 0.25 |
| 1941 | 75 | #713 | 0.06 |
| 1940 | 58 | #822 | 0.05 |
| 1939 | 55 | #820 | 0.05 |
| 1938 | 55 | #837 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 52 | #847 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 46 | #908 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 54 | #852 | 0.05 |
| 1934 | 64 | #771 | 0.06 |
| 1933 | 50 | #876 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 44 | #995 | 0.04 |
| 1931 | 28 | #1,309 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 43 | #1,056 | 0.04 |
| 1929 | 40 | #1,095 | 0.04 |
| 1928 | 52 | #939 | 0.05 |
| 1927 | 41 | #1,115 | 0.04 |
| 1926 | 45 | #1,036 | 0.04 |
| 1925 | 39 | #1,126 | 0.03 |
| 1924 | 41 | #1,121 | 0.04 |
| 1923 | 43 | #1,088 | 0.04 |
| 1922 | 34 | #1,244 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 35 | #1,232 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 42 | #1,093 | 0.04 |
| 1919 | 43 | #1,036 | 0.04 |
| 1918 | 45 | #997 | 0.04 |
| 1917 | 42 | #1,006 | 0.05 |
| 1916 | 42 | #989 | 0.05 |
| 1915 | 31 | #1,163 | 0.04 |
| 1914 | 23 | #1,230 | 0.04 |
| 1913 | 17 | #1,267 | 0.03 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,434 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,414 | 0.03 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,640 | 0.03 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,498 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,421 | 0.03 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,225 | 0.04 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,269 | 0.04 |
| 1904 | 8 | #896 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,175 | 0.04 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,159 | 0.04 |
| 1897 | 8 | #801 | 0.07 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,003 | 0.05 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,112 | 0.04 |
| 1890 | 6 | #910 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 6 | #896 | 0.05 |
| 1887 | 6 | #840 | 0.06 |
| 1886 | 7 | #780 | 0.06 |
| 1885 | 6 | #852 | 0.06 |
| 1883 | 5 | #923 | 0.05 |
| 1882 | 5 | #964 | 0.04 |
| 1881 | 5 | #893 | 0.05 |
| 1880 | 6 | #833 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Colin a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Colin has been given almost only to boys: 445 girls in 135 years of records.
Girls and boys named Colin: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Colin, and how old are they?
127,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 94% of the 134,151 Americans ever recorded as Colin. The median Colin alive today is 24 years old; half are between 17 and 36.
The 2020 Census counted 123,025 people named Colin (326 women and girls, 122,699 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 122,161 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 502 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,430 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 9,950 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 34,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 57,300 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 21,400 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Colin born?
The states with the most babies named Colin are California, New York and Massachusetts, with 27% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Massachusetts is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 88 | #380 | 0.7× |
| New York | 86 | #230 | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 74 | #92 | 2.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 67 | #191 | 1.5× |
| New Jersey | 59 | #173 | 1.4× |
| Texas | 44 | #671 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 39 | #309 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 39 | #466 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 37 | #293 | 1.3× |
| North Carolina | 33 | #349 | 0.7× |
Where Colin is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Colin is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 2.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Colin with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 225,141 babies since 1880, Colin is the most given (60% of them). In 2025 it was given to 950 of their 1,634 babies (58%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Colin
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Colin and names like it
- Compare Colin and CollinBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sColin peaked in 2004.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Colin since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Colin: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2004The year the most babies were named Colin.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Colin alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with CMost given first.