Coleby
An English masculine name meaning "dark, shining town".
Name Census estimates that about 220 living Americans carry the first name Coleby. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Coleby today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coleby births was 2001 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coleby. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Coleby with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
220
~ 1 in 1,557,974 Americans
Peak year
2001
19 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2010 SSA rank
#11,003
Tracked since 1984
Census
Coleby in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 228 people with the first name Coleby, which placed it at #35,335 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
#35,335
National first-name rank
People counted
228
228 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coleby
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coleby is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Coleby 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 Coleby at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.8% · 198
- Two or more races4.8% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 10
- Black or African American2.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 4
Popularity
Coleby: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coleby from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coleby 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 Coleby during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Coleby
The given name Coleby is an English name that has its origins in the Old English language. The name is derived from the Old English words "col" meaning "coal" and "by" meaning "a village or town." Thus, the name Coleby can be interpreted to mean "a person from the coal town or village."
The earliest recorded instances of the name Coleby date back to the 11th century in England. It is believed that the name was initially used to identify individuals who lived in or were associated with a village or town that had a significant coal mining industry.
Historically, the name Coleby has been relatively uncommon, and there are few notable figures from the past who bore this name. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Coleby was Sir John Coleby, a 14th-century English landowner and knight who lived from around 1320 to 1395.
Another notable figure with the name Coleby was William Coleby, a 16th-century English clergyman and theologian who lived from approximately 1510 to 1580. He was known for his writings on religious matters and served as a rector in various parishes in England.
In the 17th century, there was a Coleby Seymour, who was born in 1632 and died in 1705. He was an English landowner and member of the gentry class, known for his involvement in local politics and community affairs.
Moving into the 18th century, a notable figure with the name Coleby was Samuel Coleby, a British merchant and trader who lived from 1725 to 1795. He was involved in the lucrative trade between Britain and its colonies, and his name is mentioned in various historical records related to maritime commerce.
Lastly, in the 19th century, there was a Coleby Hawkins, born in 1812 and died in 1895. He was an English architect and surveyor who contributed to the design and construction of several notable buildings and infrastructure projects during the Victorian era in Britain.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the given name Coleby. While the name has remained relatively uncommon, it has persisted over the centuries, carrying its connection to the coal towns and villages of England's past.
People
Coleby + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coleby 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
Coleby: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coleby?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 220 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coleby 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 1,557,974 US residents.
Is Coleby a common name?
We classify Coleby as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coleby most popular?
The single biggest year for Coleby was 2001, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coleby is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coleby in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 228 people with the name Coleby, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,335 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 Coleby 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 Coleby?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coleby leans strongly male. 218 people counted with this name were male (92.4%), compared with 18 female bearers (7.6%). 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 Coleby?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coleby is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Coleby most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coleby in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (198 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 Coleby in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coleby a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coleby 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 Coleby still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coleby 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 Coleby 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 many people are named Coleby?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.