Colin

Colin: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “young creature; cub”
Origin: Scottish Gaelic
Say it: KOH-lin · 2 syllables
Used for: Boys

Commonly used as an anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Cailean, meaning 'young whelp' or 'cub'. It is also sometimes associated with a pet form of Nicholas in French.

Scottish names Irish names English names Names meaning animal Classic names International names

How popular is Colin?

2024311 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Colin in 20241,035

2024 rank#334 boys

Peak year2004

Total US babies since 1880133,202

Colin is fading: recent use is about 40% of its level ten years before.

Names like Colin

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Nicholasvictory of the people · Greek
Coleswarthy, coal-black · English
Nicolasvictory of the people · Greek
Nicovictory of the people · Greek
Colsonson of Cole · English
Collinpeople of victory · Greek
Nikolaivictory of the people · Russian
Nikolasvictory of the people · Greek

Colin questions

What does the name Colin mean?

Colin means "young creature; cub". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. Commonly used as an anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Cailean, meaning 'young whelp' or 'cub'. It is also sometimes associated with a pet form of Nicholas in French.

Is Colin a boy or girl name?

Colin is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Colin?

1,035 US babies were named Colin in 2024. Its peak year was 2004.

How do you pronounce Colin?

Colin is usually pronounced KOH-lin.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.