Coy
Derived from Middle English coye, relating to quiet, reserved demeanor.
Name Census estimates that about 10,130 living Americans carry the first name Coy. It is a predominantly male name (95.2% of registrations). The average person named Coy today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coy births was 1919 (279 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coy. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Coy is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 866 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 33,836 Americans
Peak year
1919
279 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,507
Tracked since 1880
Census
Coy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,796 people with the first name Coy, which placed it at #2,671 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
#2,671
National first-name rank
People counted
8.8K
8,796 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coy is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Coy 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 Coy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.3% · 7,329
- Black or African American8.7% · 765
- Two or more races3.8% · 337
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 218
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 35
Gender
Gender distribution for Coy
Coy leans heavily male at 95.2% of total registrations, but 866 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Coy as a male name
- Ranked #1,507 in 2024
- 118 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1926 (264 births)
Coy as a female name
- Ranked #17,158 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1918 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coy leans strongly male. 8,427 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 378 female bearers (4.3%).
Popularity
Coy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coy from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,424 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coy 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 Coy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Coy, while Wyoming, South Dakota, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 345 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Coy
The name Coy has its origins in Old English, deriving from the word "coi" which meant "quiet" or "shy". It was initially used as a descriptive term for someone with a reserved or demure demeanor. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the late 13th century in England.
During the Middle Ages, Coy was a relatively uncommon name but was occasionally seen in historical records and parish registers across various parts of England. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Coy of Coventry, a merchant who lived in the mid-15th century.
As the name grew in popularity over the centuries, it started to appear more frequently in literature and historical accounts. In the 16th century, Coy Pettit, an English playwright and actor, was a notable figure associated with this name. He was born in 1554 and is known for his contributions to the Elizabethan theatre scene.
In the 17th century, Coy Barker, a renowned English gardener and horticulturist, was born in 1628. He is remembered for his work in designing and maintaining the gardens of several noble estates, including those of King Charles II.
Moving into the 18th century, Coy Mistress, a historical novel published in 1724, featured a character with this name, further solidifying its place in English literature and culture.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Coy was Coy Wilshire, an American politician and businessman born in 1848. He served as the governor of Utah Territory from 1896 to 1905 and played a significant role in the state's journey towards statehood.
While the name Coy has its roots in Old English, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and regions over time, with each culture adding its own unique spin and meaning to the name.
People
Coy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coy 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
Coy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coy 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 33,836 US residents.
Is Coy a common name?
We classify Coy as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,088 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coy most popular?
The single biggest year for Coy was 1919, when 279 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coy is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,796 people with the name Coy, or 2.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,671 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 Coy 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 Coy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coy leans strongly male. 8,427 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 378 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Coy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coy is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Black (8.7%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Coy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (7,329 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 Coy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coy a male name?
Yes, 95.2% of people registered as Coy 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 Coy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coy 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 Coy 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 Coy as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Coy, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.