2000
#6,475
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,836
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.79
Rare Last name
Collette
A diminutive of Nicholas, derived from the French surname Colin, meaning "victorious people."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,445 Americans carry the last name Collette. That puts it at #6,816 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.59 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 62,948 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Collette surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
5.4K
1 in 62,948
Census rank
#6,816
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,748 bearers of the surname Collette in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.59 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6816th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Collette, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Collette
The surname Collette is of French origin, derived from the medieval French personal name Colette, which was a diminutive form of the name Nicole. The name Nicole itself is thought to have derived from the Greek word "nikolaos," meaning "victory of the people."
The earliest known records of the surname Collette date back to the 12th century in northern France, particularly in the regions of Normandy and Picardy. It was likely first used as a descriptive name for someone small or petite, as the suffix "-ette" in French often denotes diminutive forms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Collette can be found in the 13th-century Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Bertin, a collection of charters and records from the Abbey of Saint-Bertin in Saint-Omer, France. In this document, a certain Robert Collette is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.
During the Middle Ages, the surname Collette was also found in various spellings, such as Collet, Colet, and Collete, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and orthography at the time.
Notable individuals who bore the surname Collette include:
1. Colette (1873-1954), the famous French novelist and performer, whose real name was Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
2. Guillaume Collette (c. 1550-1609), a French composer and music theorist active in the late Renaissance period.
3. Jean-François Collette (1740-1799), a Belgian botanist and author of the "Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Orthoptères" (Natural History of Orthoptera Insects).
4. Marie-Anne Collette (1748-1821), a French sculptor known for her portrait busts and religious works.
5. Paul Collette (1895-1970), a Belgian cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1923.
The surname Collette has also been associated with several place names in France, such as Collette-la-Petite and Collette-la-Grande, suggesting that the name may have been used as a locative surname in some instances, referring to people from those particular places.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Collette
Among Census respondents with the surname Collette, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Collette bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Collette surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.9% · 4,124
- Black or African American4.5% · 212
- Two or more races3.7% · 178
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 169
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 19
Timeline
Historical Census data for Collette
Collette appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#6,840
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,927
+91 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 1.67
Rank movement Down 365 places
2020
#6,816
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,748
-179 bearers (-3.6%)
Per 100,000 1.59
Rank movement Up 24 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,475 | 4,836 | 1.79 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,840 | 4,927 | 1.67 | +91 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 365 places |
| 2020 | #6,816 | 4,748 | 1.59 | -179 bearers (-3.6%) | Up 24 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Collette surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #6,840 | #6,816 | 0.4% |
| Count | 4,927 | 4,748 | -3.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.67 | 1.59 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Collette bearers went from 4,927 to 4,748 (-3.6% change). The surname moved up 24 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,840 to #6,816.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Collette
FAQ
Collette surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Collette?
Name Census estimates that about 5,445 living Americans carry the surname Collette. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 62,948 residents.
How common is Collette?
Collette ranks #6,816 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.59 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,748 people with the surname Collette. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,445), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.59 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.59 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Collette.
Has Collette become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Collette went from 4,927 recorded bearers to 4,748. That is a decrease of 179 (-3.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,840 to #6,816.
What does the Census say about the background of Collette?
Among Census respondents with the surname Collette, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Collette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.9% (4,124 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Collette appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (86.9%), Black (4.5%), Two or More Races (3.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Collette (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Collette mean?
A diminutive of Nicholas, derived from the French surname Colin, meaning "victorious people." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Collette (1.59 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Collette?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.