Cohan
A masculine Irish name derived from the Gaelic "cuan" meaning harbor.
Name Census estimates that about 333 living Americans carry the first name Cohan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cohan today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cohan births was 2023 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cohan. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cohan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
333
~ 1 in 1,029,292 Americans
Peak year
2023
31 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,800
Tracked since 2003
Census
Cohan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 236 people with the first name Cohan, which placed it at #34,545 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
#34,545
National first-name rank
People counted
236
236 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cohan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cohan is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (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 Cohan 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 Cohan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.7% · 207
- Two or more races4.2% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 6
- Black or African American1.7% · 4
Popularity
Cohan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cohan 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 131 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cohan 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 Cohan 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 Cohan
The given name Cohan has its origins rooted in the Hebrew language and culture. It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE, during the Second Temple period in ancient Judea. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "kohen," which means "priest" or "minister."
In ancient Israelite society, the Kohanim were members of the priestly lineage descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses. They were tasked with performing religious rituals, offering sacrifices, and maintaining the sacred spaces within the Temple in Jerusalem. The name Cohan likely gained prominence as a way to honor and identify individuals belonging to this esteemed lineage.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Cohan can be found in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the book of Leviticus, where the duties and responsibilities of the Kohanim are outlined in detail. Additionally, the name appears in various Talmudic texts and historical records documenting the lives of prominent Jewish scholars and religious leaders.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cohan. One of the earliest examples is Cohan ben Amram, a high priest who served during the reign of King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. Another prominent figure was Cohan ben Shallum, a high priest who lived in the 5th century BCE and played a crucial role in the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
During the Middle Ages, Cohan ben Meir, a renowned Jewish philosopher and Talmudic scholar from the 12th century CE, made significant contributions to the study of Jewish law and ethics. In the 16th century, Cohan Tzadok was a respected rabbi and kabbalist who authored several influential works on Jewish mysticism.
In more recent times, George M. Cohan (1878-1942), an American entertainer and songwriter, gained immense popularity for his patriotic and Broadway productions. He is often referred to as the "Father of American Musical Theatre" and is credited with writing numerous iconic songs, including "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag."
The name Cohan has maintained its connection to the Jewish faith and culture throughout its long history, serving as a reminder of the reverence and significance associated with the priestly lineage in ancient Israel.
People
Cohan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cohan 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
Cohan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cohan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 333 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cohan 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 1,029,292 US residents.
Is Cohan a common name?
We classify Cohan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 336 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cohan most popular?
The single biggest year for Cohan was 2023, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cohan is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cohan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 236 people with the name Cohan, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,545 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 Cohan 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 Cohan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cohan leans strongly male. 232 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 6 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 Cohan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cohan is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (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 Cohan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cohan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.7% (207 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 Cohan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cohan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cohan 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 Cohan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cohan 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 Cohan 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 the name Cohan?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Cohan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.