Koston
An invented name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 255 living Americans carry the first name Koston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Koston today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Koston births was 2010 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Koston. 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
255
~ 1 in 1,344,135 Americans
Peak year
2010
25 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,628
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Koston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Koston from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 155 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Koston 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 Koston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kostons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Koston
The name Koston is of Old Norse origin, dating back to the Viking Age in Scandinavia between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old Norse words "kost" and "stæinn," which together mean "chosen stone" or "valued stone." This name was likely given to a child born under special circumstances or considered particularly precious, as the Vikings placed great significance on stones and their symbolic meanings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Koston can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical narratives and mythological tales from the 13th century. In the Saga of Grettir the Strong, a character named Koston Ingjaldarson is mentioned as a skilled warrior and loyal companion to the saga's protagonist, Grettir.
In the late 9th century, a Norwegian chieftain named Koston Thorvaldsson is said to have led a group of Viking settlers to the Faroe Islands, helping to establish the first permanent settlements there. His name is recorded in the Faroese Book of Settlements, a historical document from the 13th century.
During the Middle Ages, a few notable individuals bore the name Koston. One was Koston Gudbrandsson, a Norwegian nobleman and landowner who lived in the 12th century and is mentioned in the Heimskringla, a collection of Norse kings' sagas written by the historian Snorri Sturluson.
Another was Koston Magnusson, a 14th-century Icelandic clergyman and author of religious texts. He is known for his work "Stjorn," a translation and commentary on the Old Testament and portions of the New Testament.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals named Koston was the Danish explorer and adventurer Koston Rasmussen (1879-1933). He led several expeditions to Greenland and the Arctic regions, and his accounts of his travels and interactions with the Inuit people are considered significant contributions to ethnography and anthropology.
While the name Koston is relatively uncommon today, it has a rich historical significance and connection to the cultural heritage of the Vikings and the Norse people.
People
Koston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Koston as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Koston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Koston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 255 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Koston 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 1,344,135 US residents.
Is Koston a common name?
We classify Koston as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Koston most popular?
The single biggest year for Koston was 2010, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Koston is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Koston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Koston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Koston 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 Koston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Koston 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 Koston 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Koston?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.