Colston
Son of the dusky or swarthy one.
Name Census estimates that about 1,157 living Americans carry the first name Colston. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Colston today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colston births was 2010 (91 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colston. 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
- • Colston is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 296,244 Americans
Peak year
2010
91 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,830
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Colston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colston from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 702 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Colston remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Colston 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 Colston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Colstons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Colston, while Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Colston
The name Colston derives from an Old English surname meaning "coal town" or "coal settlement." It is believed to have originated in the 9th or 10th century in the Anglo-Saxon region of what is now England. The name is a combination of the Old English words "col" meaning coal and "tun" meaning town or settlement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Colston can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name is mentioned in reference to several landowners and villages bearing variations of the name, such as Colstun and Colstune.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Colston appears in the chronicles of the Benedictine monastery of Bury St Edmunds. This Colston was a wealthy merchant and benefactor who donated generously to the monastery and its surrounding community.
During the 16th century, a prominent English merchant and philanthropist named Edward Colston (1636-1721) made a significant impact on the city of Bristol. He was a member of the wealthy Society of Merchant Venturers and played a key role in the city's maritime trade, particularly in the slave trade. Despite his involvement in this unethical practice, he also made substantial charitable donations, which led to various buildings and institutions in Bristol being named after him.
Another noteworthy figure with the name Colston was Sir John Colston (1548-1611), an English diplomat and scholar who served as an ambassador to several European countries during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 18th century, a British naval officer named Francis Colston (1741-1804) distinguished himself in various battles during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars.
Throughout history, the name Colston has been associated with individuals from various backgrounds, including merchants, philanthropists, scholars, and military figures, reflecting its origins in the Anglo-Saxon region and its evolution over centuries.
People
Colston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colston 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
Colston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colston 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 296,244 US residents.
Is Colston a common name?
We classify Colston as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,167 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colston most popular?
The single biggest year for Colston was 2010, when 91 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colston is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Colston a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Colston 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.