Coralee
A feminine name, a combination of "Cora" and "Lee"; meaning "maiden" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 1,726 living Americans carry the first name Coralee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Coralee today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coralee births was 2017 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coralee. 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
1.7K
~ 1 in 198,583 Americans
Peak year
2017
79 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,673
Tracked since 1895
Census
Coralee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,858 people with the first name Coralee, which placed it at #7,942 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
#7,942
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,858 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coralee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coralee is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Coralee 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 Coralee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 1,521
- Black or African American5.8% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 101
- Two or more races5.0% · 93
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 11
Popularity
Coralee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coralee from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 598 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Coralee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coralee 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 Coralee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coralees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Coralee, while Washington, Virginia, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Coralee
Coralee is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the combination of two distinct roots - "Cora" and "lee". The first part, "Cora," traces its roots back to the Greek word "kore," which means "maiden" or "young woman." This Greek influence on the name reflects the enduring appreciation for classical antiquity in Western culture.
The second part of the name, "lee," is an English word that can have multiple meanings, including a sheltered place, a meadow, or even a middle English word for "beloved." The blending of these two elements creates a name that evokes a sense of beauty, youthfulness, and affection.
While the name Coralee is relatively modern in its current form, its components have a long-standing history. The name Cora, for instance, can be found in ancient Greek literature, such as the works of Euripides and Sophocles, where it was used as a name for female characters.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Coralee dates back to the late 19th century. In 1884, Coralee Archer was born in New York, USA, and went on to become a notable educator and advocate for women's rights.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Coralee. Coralee Smith (1915-1999) was an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and films during the mid-20th century. Coralee Waddill (1909-1982) was a pioneering female aviator and one of the first women to obtain a commercial pilot's license in the United States.
Another notable Coralee was Coralee Beaulieu (1924-2015), a renowned Canadian artist and painter, known for her vibrant depictions of rural life and landscapes. Coralee Smith-Moralez (1946-2021) was a prominent Native American activist and advocate for indigenous rights, serving as the chairwoman of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe in Nevada.
Coralee Maude Nichols (1901-1991) was an American painter and printmaker, celebrated for her contributions to the Regionalist art movement and her depictions of rural life in the American Midwest.
The name Coralee carries a rich tapestry of cultural influences, weaving together elements from Greek, English, and modern Western traditions. Its enduring appeal lies in its melodic sound and the evocative imagery it conjures, reflecting the beauty and grace associated with its roots.
People
Coralee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coralee 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
Coralee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coralee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,726 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coralee 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 198,583 US residents.
Is Coralee a common name?
We classify Coralee as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,607 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coralee most popular?
The single biggest year for Coralee was 2017, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coralee is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coralee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,858 people with the name Coralee, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,942 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 Coralee 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 Coralee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coralee appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,860 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Coralee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coralee is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Coralee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coralee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (1,521 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 Coralee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coralee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coralee in the SSA data are female. 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 Coralee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coralee 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 Coralee 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 called Coralee?
Find out how many Americans are named Coralee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.