Colson
Son of Nicholas, a name of English origin.
Name Census estimates that about 8,547 living Americans carry the first name Colson. It sits at #353 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Colson today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colson births was 2022 (1,058 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colson. 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.
Key insights
- • Colson is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
8.5K
~ 1 in 40,102 Americans
Peak year
2022
1,058 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#353
Tracked since 1924
Popularity
Colson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colson from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 4,880 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
Colson 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 Colson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Colsons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Colson, while Rhode Island, New Mexico, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 154 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Colson
The name Colson is an English surname that has been used as a given name. It originated as an occupational surname, derived from the Old English words "col" meaning coal and "sunu" meaning son, referring to someone whose occupation was related to coal mining or working with coal.
The earliest recorded use of Colson as a surname dates back to the 13th century in England. It was initially concentrated in areas with significant coal mining activities, such as Yorkshire and Lancashire. Over time, it became more widely distributed across Britain.
While the name Colson has no direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it reflects the significance of the coal industry in medieval and early modern England. Coal mining played a vital role in the country's economic and industrial development during this period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Colson was Thomas Colson, who lived in the 14th century and was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1379. Another notable early bearer of the name was William Colson, a merchant and alderman in London, who lived from around 1550 to 1616.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Colson as a first name:
1. Colson Whitehead (born 1969) is an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Underground Railroad" (2016).
2. Colson Hanna (1837-1913) was an American businessman and politician from Indiana, serving as the 9th Lieutenant Governor of Indiana from 1893 to 1897.
3. Colson Hiram Turnage (1846-1927) was an American politician and lawyer from Mississippi, serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1901 to 1909.
4. Colson P. Erwin (1846-1923) was an American lawyer and politician from Georgia, serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1893 to 1897.
5. Colson B. Ingram (1858-1928) was an American businessman and politician from Kansas, serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1907 to 1911.
While the name Colson has its origins in an occupational surname related to the coal industry, it has since evolved into a given name used by individuals from various backgrounds and professions. Its historical significance lies in its connection to the coal mining industry, which played a crucial role in England's economic and industrial development during the medieval and early modern periods.
People
Colson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colson 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
Colson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,547 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colson 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 40,102 US residents.
Is Colson a common name?
We classify Colson 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, 8,624 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colson most popular?
The single biggest year for Colson was 2022, when 1,058 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colson is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Colson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Colson 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.
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.