How rare is the name Colin?

123,025 people in the United States have the first name Colin, about 1 in 2,455. It ranks #460 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

COLIN

#460

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
123,025
About
1 in 2,455
This common or more
56.9%
Who bears it

Of the 123,025 people named Colin, 84.7% reported their origin as White, 4.5% as two or more races and 3.8% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Colin peaked in 2004, when 5,147 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2004
Births that year
5,147
In 2025*
950 ▼82%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 134,151 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Colin by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2000s, when it ranked #191. The largest share of babies named Colin, 43.4%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#1,77246
1890s#2,60730
1900s#3,05234
1910s#2,239267
1920s#2,202412
1930s#1,850491
1940s#9881,919
1950s#1,0382,459
1960s#8464,184
1970s#5907,555
1980s#32117,822
1990s#24228,364
2000s#19139,198
2010s#30324,732
2020s#6036,638
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.5%
Silent Generation 1928–451.3%
Baby boom 1946–643.7%
Generation X 1965–808.3%
Millennials 1981–9626.6%
Generation Z 1997–1243.4%
2013 and later16.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Colin is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Colin has been most common in New Hampshire (2.5×), Massachusetts (2×), and Connecticut (2×), and least common in Mississippi (0.28×).

130,060 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Colin

#458 Mitchell · 124,130#459 Josephine · 123,986#461 Eli · 122,713#462 Lindsay · 122,638

Spelled almost the same

7 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Colin, most common first.

#704 Collin · 72,614#14,957 Colyn · 778#15,037 Colon · 772#22,829 Colen · 433#30,536 Colan · 285#36,737 Coline · 215#45,337 Colina · 150

Also a last name

As a last name, Colin ranks #4,529 of 156,621, with 7,617 people. See Colin as a last name

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