Collene
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "kollos" meaning beautiful.
Name Census estimates that about 662 living Americans carry the first name Collene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Collene today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Collene births was 1958 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Collene. 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
662
~ 1 in 517,756 Americans
Peak year
1958
33 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2003 SSA rank
#14,254
Tracked since 1922
Census
Collene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 783 people with the first name Collene, which placed it at #14,879 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
#14,879
National first-name rank
People counted
783
783 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Collene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Collene is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (10.5%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Collene 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 Collene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.9% · 641
- Black or African American10.5% · 82
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 23
- Two or more races2.7% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Collene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Collene from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 200 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Collene 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 Collene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Collenes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Collene
The name Collene is a feminine given name that originated from the Greek name Kollenē. It is derived from the ancient Greek word "kolla," meaning "glue" or "cement." The name Kollenē likely referred to a woman who made or sold glue or adhesive materials in ancient Greece.
The earliest recorded use of the name Collene dates back to the 4th century BCE in ancient Greek texts. It was a relatively uncommon name during that time period and was primarily found in the regions of mainland Greece and the Greek islands.
In the 5th century CE, the name Collene appeared in some early Christian writings and records. It is believed that a few early Christian women were named Collene, possibly as a nod to the name's meaning of "glue" or "adhesive," symbolizing the bond or unity of the Christian faith.
One of the earliest known individuals named Collene was a Greek philosopher and scholar from Athens who lived in the 3rd century BCE. Her writings on metaphysics and ethics were influential in her time, but sadly, most of her works have been lost to history.
In the 12th century, a woman named Collene was a prominent figure in the court of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus. She was known for her intelligence, literary talents, and her role as a trusted advisor to the Emperor.
During the Renaissance period, a Italian noblewoman named Collene Degli Albizzi (1456-1523) was a patron of the arts and a supporter of the humanist movement. She hosted salons and gatherings for philosophers, poets, and artists in her lavish Florentine villa.
Another notable Collene was Collene de Bourbon (1637-1713), a French aristocrat and courtier during the reign of Louis XIV. She was known for her influential role in court politics and her close friendship with the Sun King's famous mistress, Madame de Montespan.
In the 19th century, Collene Burroughs (1833-1892) was an American educator and women's rights activist. She founded several schools for girls and was a prominent figure in the early women's suffrage movement in the United States.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Collene, which has its roots in ancient Greek language and culture, and has been used across various regions and time periods, often associated with intellectualism, arts, and influential women.
People
Collene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Collene 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
Collene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Collene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 662 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Collene 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 517,756 US residents.
Is Collene a common name?
We classify Collene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,009 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Collene most popular?
The single biggest year for Collene was 1958, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Collene is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Collene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 783 people with the name Collene, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,879 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 Collene 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 Collene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Collene appears almost entirely female. Of the 790 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Collene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Collene is White at 81.9%. The next largest groups are Black (10.5%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Collene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Collene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.9% (641 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 Collene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Collene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Collene 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 Collene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Collene 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 Collene 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 Collene?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.