Coal
A masculine name of English origin meaning "glowing ember".
Name Census estimates that about 167 living Americans carry the first name Coal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Coal today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coal births was 2016 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coal. 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
167
~ 1 in 2,052,421 Americans
Peak year
2016
14 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,128
Tracked since 1994
Census
Coal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Coal, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coal is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Coal 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 Coal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.0% · 166
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 15
- Two or more races5.5% · 11
- Black or African American1.5% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Coal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coal from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 83 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
Coal 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 Coal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Coal
The name Coal has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, tracing back to the Proto-Germanic word "kul-". This word referred to the dark, burnable sedimentary rock that was commonly used as fuel for fire and heating. The name likely emerged as a descriptive name or a nickname for someone who worked with coal or had a dark complexion.
In the Middle Ages, the name Coal was occasionally used in various parts of Europe, particularly in areas where coal mining was a prominent industry. However, there are no definitive records of the name being widely used or appearing in significant historical texts or scriptures during this period.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Coal date back to the 16th century in England. One notable bearer of the name was Coal Greevy, an English coal miner born in 1572 in Nottinghamshire. He was known for his involvement in the development of early coal mining techniques and safety practices.
Another historical figure with the name Coal was Coal Hewitt (1592-1662), a Welsh farmer and landowner who played a role in the English Civil War. He supported the Parliamentarian cause and provided resources to the forces opposing King Charles I.
In the 18th century, Coal Jenkinson (1717-1788) was a notable English entrepreneur and industrialist who established several successful coal mining operations in the North of England. His business ventures contributed significantly to the growth of the coal industry during the Industrial Revolution.
During the 19th century, Coal Yates (1837-1912) was a prominent American labor leader and activist who fought for the rights of coal miners. He led several strikes and campaigns to improve working conditions and safety standards in the coal mining industry.
In the early 20th century, Coal Black (1901-1981) was a respected African American educator and civil rights advocate. He taught in segregated schools in the American South and worked tirelessly to promote equal educational opportunities for Black students.
While the name Coal has not been widely popular throughout history, it has been borne by individuals who made significant contributions in various fields, particularly in the coal mining industry and labor rights movements.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Coal
People
Coal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coal 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
Coal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 167 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coal 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 2,052,421 US residents.
Is Coal a common name?
We classify Coal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 169 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coal most popular?
The single biggest year for Coal was 2016, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coal is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Coal, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Coal 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 Coal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coal leans strongly male. 197 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 5 female bearers (2.5%). 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 Coal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coal is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Coal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (166 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 Coal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coal 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 Coal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coal 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 Coal 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 Coal?
You can see how many people share the name Coal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.