US Name Trends

Colin

Irish cailín, “girl” — an Irish-American coinage rather than a name used in Ireland.

2004peak year
No. 85best rank (2004)
134,151babies since 1880
No. 343rank in 2025

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Colin per year — peak 5,122▬ girls ▬ boys18801900192019401960198020002020

Colin appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American boys in every year from 2003 to 2005. Its biggest year was 2004, when 5,122 newborn boys received the name, ranking it No. 85 nationally. In 2025 it ranked No. 343 for boys. All told, 134,151 Americans have been given the name since 1880.

Related names

Other spellings on record: Colleen (163,084), Collin (81,962), Coleen (11,998), Kollin (2,782), Kolin (1,945), Colene (1,624) (total births since 1880)

Explore Colin interactively →

By the decade

DecadeBirthsBest rank
1880s46No. 758
1890s30No. 787
1900s34No. 874
1910s267No. 984
1920s412No. 938
1930s491No. 771
1940s1,919No. 323
1950s2,459No. 443
1960s4,162No. 320
1970s7,484No. 207
1980s17,672No. 126
1990s28,258No. 119
2000s39,129No. 85
2010s24,715No. 111
2020s6,628No. 269

Births and rank shown for boys, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.

🍼 Enjoying this? Buy my baby a diaper

Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.