Colonel
Colonel was last recorded in 1987, when 6 babies were given it; 1,250 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 1987 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Colonel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Colonel?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #6,234, in 1987; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
37 babies in 1920, the peak
Colonel peaked in 1920, when 37 boys were given it, #1,185 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 6 | #6,234 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 6 | #5,628 | under 0.01 |
| 1980 | 6 | #5,654 | under 0.01 |
| 1973 | 7 | #4,137 | under 0.01 |
| 1971 | 8 | #3,715 | under 0.01 |
| 1970 | 6 | #4,330 | under 0.01 |
| 1968 | 6 | #3,759 | under 0.01 |
| 1967 | 9 | #2,809 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 5 | #4,046 | under 0.01 |
| 1965 | 5 | #4,005 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (89)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 5 | #4,150 | under 0.01 |
| 1963 | 7 | #3,366 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 8 | #3,088 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 8 | #3,145 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 12 | #2,444 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 8 | #3,074 | under 0.01 |
| 1957 | 6 | #3,635 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 15 | #2,102 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 20 | #1,736 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 13 | #2,223 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,111 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 10 | #2,553 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 10 | #2,527 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 14 | #2,041 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 15 | #1,957 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 8 | #2,821 | under 0.01 |
| 1947 | 21 | #1,659 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 14 | #1,966 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 22 | #1,416 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 17 | #1,694 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 15 | #1,931 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 13 | #2,060 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 17 | #1,704 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 16 | #1,748 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 20 | #1,501 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 10 | #2,359 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 19 | #1,589 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 18 | #1,598 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 13 | #2,052 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 15 | #1,875 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 20 | #1,550 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 23 | #1,473 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 13 | #2,121 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,202 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 22 | #1,571 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 31 | #1,300 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 19 | #1,816 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 28 | #1,383 | 0.03 |
| 1925 | 18 | #1,884 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 33 | #1,268 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 24 | #1,558 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 27 | #1,437 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 35 | #1,233 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 37 | #1,185 | 0.03 |
| 1919 | 29 | #1,327 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 28 | #1,347 | 0.03 |
| 1917 | 24 | #1,452 | 0.03 |
| 1916 | 31 | #1,182 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 27 | #1,272 | 0.03 |
| 1914 | 21 | #1,304 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 18 | #1,217 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 19 | #1,065 | 0.04 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,576 | 0.03 |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,131 | 0.05 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,422 | 0.03 |
| 1907 | 5 | #1,383 | 0.03 |
| 1906 | 7 | #1,028 | 0.05 |
| 1904 | 7 | #987 | 0.05 |
| 1901 | 9 | #737 | 0.08 |
| 1900 | 9 | #916 | 0.06 |
| 1898 | 9 | #753 | 0.07 |
| 1897 | 7 | #862 | 0.06 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,004 | 0.05 |
| 1895 | 11 | #646 | 0.09 |
| 1894 | 6 | #975 | 0.05 |
| 1893 | 7 | #849 | 0.06 |
| 1892 | 10 | #695 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 19 | #401 | 0.19 |
| 1890 | 6 | #911 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 9 | #685 | 0.08 |
| 1888 | 11 | #620 | 0.09 |
| 1887 | 10 | #595 | 0.10 |
| 1886 | 6 | #861 | 0.05 |
| 1885 | 11 | #583 | 0.10 |
| 1884 | 9 | #671 | 0.08 |
| 1883 | 10 | #607 | 0.10 |
| 1882 | 14 | #496 | 0.12 |
| 1881 | 14 | #467 | 0.14 |
| 1880 | 11 | #578 | 0.10 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Colonel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Colonel has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 89 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Colonel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Colonel, and how old are they?
An estimated 247 Americans named Colonel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (20% of everyone recorded); the median is 72 years old and half are between 63 and 80. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 398 people named Colonel (8 women and girls, 390 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 323 born in the U.S. The Census count is 23% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Colonel
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 Colonel and names like it
- Compare Colonel and AlvahBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sColonel peaked in 1920.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Colonel since 1910.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Colonel.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Colonel alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with CMost given first.