Colinda
A feminine name of Anglo-Saxon origin meaning "victorious people".
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the first name Colinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Colinda today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colinda births was 1962 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colinda. 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
138
~ 1 in 2,483,727 Americans
Peak year
1962
18 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1984 SSA rank
#10,728
Tracked since 1953
Census
Colinda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 188 people with the first name Colinda, which placed it at #39,872 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
#39,872
National first-name rank
People counted
188
188 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Colinda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colinda is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.9%). 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 Colinda 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 Colinda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.2% · 132
- Black or African American14.9% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.9% · 11
- Two or more races4.8% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Colinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colinda from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 71 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
Colinda 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 Colinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Colindas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Colinda
The name Colinda is believed to have its origins in ancient Celtic cultures, particularly among the Gaelic-speaking people of Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the Old Irish word "colinn," meaning "body" or "flesh." The name likely emerged sometime during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 9th centuries AD.
In its earliest forms, Colinda was likely a descriptive name given to individuals with a strong or robust physical presence. It may have been used to denote strength, vitality, or good health. The name's connection to the physical aspect of life suggests it could have held spiritual or symbolic significance in the pagan Celtic traditions of the time.
While the name does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that it was used among the common people of the Celtic regions during the early medieval period. The earliest recorded instances of the name Colinda are found in historical records and genealogical documents from Ireland and Scotland dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Colinda was Colinda of Bute, a Scottish noblewoman who lived in the late 12th century and was known for her involvement in local politics and governance on the Isle of Bute. Another notable figure was Colinda MacLeod, a 15th-century Scottish chieftain who played a role in the clan conflicts of the Western Isles.
In Ireland, the name Colinda was borne by several individuals throughout history, including Colinda O'Donnell, a 16th-century Irish poet and bard who composed works in the Gaelic tradition. Colinda O'Brien, a 17th-century Irish landowner and businesswoman, was also a prominent figure in her time.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Colinda saw some usage in various parts of Europe, likely due to the influence of Celtic cultural traditions and migrations. Notable bearers of the name from this period include Colinda von Trier, a German painter and artist active in the early 19th century, and Colinda Leblanc, a French writer and feminist activist in the late 19th century.
While the name Colinda has declined in popularity in recent times, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of Celtic and Gaelic naming traditions, carrying with it a connection to the physical and spiritual aspects of life.
People
Colinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colinda 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
Colinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 138 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colinda 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 2,483,727 US residents.
Is Colinda a common name?
We classify Colinda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 168 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Colinda was 1962, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colinda 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 Colinda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 188 people with the name Colinda, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,872 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 Colinda 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 Colinda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Colinda appears almost entirely female. Of the 184 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Colinda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colinda is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.9%). 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 Colinda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Colinda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (132 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 Colinda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Colinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Colinda 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 Colinda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Colinda 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 Colinda 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 Colinda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.