Collin
A masculine name of Scottish origin meaning "victor" or "victorious people".
Name Census estimates that about 78,997 living Americans carry the first name Collin. It sits at #489 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Collin today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Collin births was 1996 (3,369 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Collin. 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 Collin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Collin is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 519 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
79K
~ 1 in 4,339 Americans
Peak year
1996
3,369 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#489
Tracked since 1895
Census
Collin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 72,621 people with the first name Collin, which placed it at #704 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
#704
National first-name rank
People counted
73K
72,621 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
24.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Collin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Collin is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Collin 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 Collin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.3% · 60,472
- Black or African American5.5% · 4,009
- Two or more races4.6% · 3,318
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 2,761
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 1,619
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 442
Gender
Gender distribution for Collin
Out of the 81,336 babies given the name Collin since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Collin as a male name
- Ranked #489 in 2024
- 627 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1996 (3,358 births)
Collin as a female name
- Ranked #11,295 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1985 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Collin appears almost entirely male. Of the 72,614 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Collin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Collin from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 27,909 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
Collin 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 Collin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Collins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Collin, while Wyoming, District of Columbia, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,521 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Collin
The given name Collin has its origins in the ancient Gaelic and Irish cultures, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old Irish word "coll," which means "youthful" or "young." In its early days, the name was primarily used in areas that are now modern-day Ireland and Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Collin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, an ancient Irish chronicle that documents events from the 5th to the 16th century. The Annals mention a man named Collin, who was a notable chieftain in the year 671 AD.
Collin gained further recognition during the Middle Ages, particularly in Britain. In the 12th century, Collin FitzGerald, an Anglo-Norman nobleman, served as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1177 to 1180. FitzGerald played a significant role in the Norman invasion of Ireland and was a prominent figure in the country's history.
Another notable bearer of the name was Collin de Plancy, a French historian and author born in 1642. He is best known for his work, "Dictionnaire Infernal," which is a comprehensive encyclopedia of demonology and occultism.
During the 16th century, Collin Calmady, an English merchant and sailor, embarked on several voyages to the West Indies and the Americas. His accounts of these voyages provide valuable insights into the early exploration and trade ventures of the era.
In more recent times, the name Collin has been borne by several prominent individuals. Collin Wilcox, an American actress, and author, was born in 1935 and is known for her work in the horror and thriller genres. Collin Raye, an American country music singer, born in 1960, has had several hit singles and albums throughout his career.
The name Collin has also been used in various literary works, further solidifying its place in history. In John Steinbeck's novel "East of Eden," one of the main characters is named Collin Trask, highlighting the name's enduring presence in popular culture.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Collin
People
Collin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Collin 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
Collin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Collin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 78,997 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Collin 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 4,339 US residents.
Is Collin a common name?
We classify Collin as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 81,336 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Collin most popular?
The single biggest year for Collin was 1996, when 3,369 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Collin is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Collin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 72,621 people with the name Collin, or 24.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #704 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 Collin 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 Collin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Collin appears almost entirely male. Of the 72,614 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Collin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Collin is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Collin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Collin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (60,472 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 Collin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Collin a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Collin 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 Collin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Collin 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 Collin 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 have Collin as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Collin, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.