Colten
English masculine name derived from a place name meaning "coal town".
Name Census estimates that about 15,894 living Americans carry the first name Colten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Colten today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colten births was 2009 (757 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colten. 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
16K
~ 1 in 21,565 Americans
Peak year
2009
757 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#895
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Colten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colten from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,526 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Colten 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 Colten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coltens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Indiana recorded the most babies named Colten, while New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 310 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Colten
The name Colten is a modern variation of the English name Colton, which is derived from an Old English surname meaning "coal town" or "settlement of charcoal burners." The name is thought to have originated in the medieval period, when charcoal production was an important industry in many parts of England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Colton can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions several places called "Colton" in various counties of England. However, it is unclear whether these place names were directly related to the surname or given name.
In the 13th century, the name Colton appeared as a surname in various historical records, such as the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire and the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire. It is likely that the name transitioned from a surname to a given name during this period or shortly after.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Colton was Sir John Colton, a 14th-century English knight and member of Parliament. He was born around 1300 and served as a justice of the peace and a member of the House of Commons for Cambridgeshire.
Another notable figure with the name Colton was Walter Colton, an American clergyman and author who lived from 1797 to 1851. He served as a chaplain in the United States Navy and wrote several books, including "Ship and Shore" and "Deck and Port."
In the 19th century, the name Colton gained some popularity in the United States, particularly in the West. One prominent individual with this name was Reverend Benjamin Colton, a missionary and explorer who traveled extensively in the American West and Mexico in the 1830s and 1840s.
Another notable Colton was John Colton, an American playwright and screenwriter who lived from 1889 to 1946. He wrote several successful plays, including "The Shanghai Gesture" and "Rain," and also worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter for films such as "Arrowsmith" and "The Painted Veil."
A more recent individual with the name Colten was Colten Cobbush, a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was born in 1988. He played in various minor leagues and for the Canadian national team.
While the name Colten is a relatively modern spelling variation, it is rooted in the rich history of English surnames and place names, reflecting the industrial heritage of charcoal production in medieval England.
People
Colten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colten 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
Colten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,894 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colten 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 21,565 US residents.
Is Colten a common name?
We classify Colten as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,116 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colten most popular?
The single biggest year for Colten was 2009, when 757 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colten is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Colten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Colten 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.