Colbert
A French name derived from Colas, a diminutive of Nicolas.
Name Census estimates that about 446 living Americans carry the first name Colbert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Colbert today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colbert births was 1931 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colbert. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
446
~ 1 in 768,507 Americans
Peak year
1931
19 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2012 SSA rank
#11,055
Tracked since 1886
Census
Colbert in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Colbert, which placed it at #18,616 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Colbert
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colbert is Black at 46.3%. The next largest groups are White (31.4%) and Hispanic (7.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Colbert described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Colbert at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American46.3% · 267
- White31.4% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 37
- Two or more races4.9% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.0% · 23
Popularity
Colbert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colbert from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 121 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Colbert by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Colbert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Colberts live
Origin
Meaning and history of Colbert
The name Colbert is of French origin, derived from the Old German name Kolbracht, which means "bright sword" or "famous sword." The name dates back to the 6th century and was initially used by the Franks, an ancient Germanic people who ruled much of modern-day France, Belgium, and parts of Germany.
In the Middle Ages, the name Colbert became associated with nobility and was particularly popular among the French aristocracy. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is from the 10th century, when a nobleman named Colbert de Vitry served as a vassal to the Count of Champagne.
The name gained further prominence in the 17th century, thanks to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a prominent French statesman who served as the finance minister under King Louis XIV. Colbert was born in 1619 and died in 1683. He is credited with implementing significant economic reforms that helped strengthen the French monarchy and establish France as a major European power.
Another notable figure with the name Colbert was Claudette Colbert, a French-American actress born in 1903 and died in 1996. She was a leading lady in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s and won an Academy Award for her performance in the 1934 film "It Happened One Night."
In the 20th century, the name Colbert gained popularity in the United States, particularly after the rise of comedian Stephen Colbert, who was born in 1964. Colbert is best known for his work on the satirical news programs "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report."
Other notable individuals with the name Colbert include:
1. Jean-François Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay (1637-1690), a French statesman and son of Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
2. Edouard Colbert, Marquis de Villacerf (1629-1699), a French nobleman and nephew of Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
3. Claudette Colbert (1903-1996), a French-American actress and winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress.
4. Stephen Colbert (born 1964), an American comedian, writer, and television host known for his satirical news shows.
5. Claudette Colvin (born 1939), an American civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks' famous protest.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Colbert
People
Colbert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colbert as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Colbert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colbert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 446 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colbert going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 768,507 US residents.
Is Colbert a common name?
We classify Colbert as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 839 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colbert most popular?
The single biggest year for Colbert was 1931, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colbert is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Colbert in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Colbert, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Colbert in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Colbert?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Colbert leans strongly male. 559 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 12 female bearers (2.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Colbert?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colbert is Black at 46.3%. The next largest groups are White (31.4%) and Hispanic (7.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Colbert most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Colbert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (267 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Colbert in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Colbert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Colbert in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Colbert still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Colbert in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Colbert can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Colbert?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Colbert on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.