Coleen
A feminine name derived from an Irish surname meaning "girl".
Name Census estimates that about 8,576 living Americans carry the first name Coleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Coleen today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coleen births was 1959 (423 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coleen. 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 Coleen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.6K
~ 1 in 39,967 Americans
Peak year
1959
423 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2023 SSA rank
#15,692
Tracked since 1912
Census
Coleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,361 people with the first name Coleen, which placed it at #2,402 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
#2,402
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coleen is White at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%). 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 Coleen 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 Coleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.2% · 8,831
- Black or African American6.6% · 687
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 323
- Two or more races2.1% · 220
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 204
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 96
Popularity
Coleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coleen from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,567 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coleen 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 Coleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coleens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Coleen, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 192 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Coleen
The name Coleen is a variant spelling of the Irish feminine name Colleen, which is derived from the Irish Gaelic words "cailín" or "caillín," meaning "young woman" or "girl." The name has its roots in the Gaelic language and culture, originating in Ireland.
The name Colleen first appeared in written records during the 16th century, when it was commonly used as a term of endearment for a young Irish girl or woman. In the early days, it was not necessarily a proper name but rather a descriptive term.
One of the earliest known references to the name Colleen can be found in the play "The White Devil" by John Webster, written in 1612. The play features a character named Colleen, which suggests that the name was already in use at that time.
As Ireland's culture and language were suppressed during the English colonization, the name Colleen became a symbol of Irish identity and resistance. It was embraced as a distinctly Irish name, representing the country's rich heritage and traditions.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Coleen or its variations. One of the most famous was Coleen Nolan (born 1964), an English singer and television presenter who rose to fame as a member of the popular Irish family music group, The Nolans.
Another well-known Coleen was Coleen Gray (1922-2015), an American actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the 1940s and 1950s, including the classic noir film "Nightmare Alley."
In the world of sports, Coleen Sakhau (born 1976) is a former professional basketball player from Papua New Guinea who represented her country in international competitions.
Coleen Fitzpatrick (1924-2004) was an American actress and comedian who gained recognition for her roles in several television series, including "The Phil Silvers Show" and "The Jackie Gleason Show."
Lastly, Coleen Rooney (born 1986) is a British television personality and author, best known for her marriage to former English professional footballer Wayne Rooney.
While the name Coleen may have originated as a term of endearment, it has evolved into a distinct and meaningful name with a rich cultural heritage, representing the spirit and resilience of the Irish people.
People
Coleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coleen 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
Coleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,576 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coleen 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 39,967 US residents.
Is Coleen a common name?
We classify Coleen as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,998 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Coleen was 1959, when 423 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coleen is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,361 people with the name Coleen, or 3.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,402 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 Coleen 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 Coleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coleen appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,357 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Coleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coleen is White at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%). 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 Coleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.2% (8,831 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 Coleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coleen in the SSA data are female. 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 Coleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coleen 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 Coleen 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 share the name Coleen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.