Colyn
A masculine given name of Celtic origin meaning "little boy".
Name Census estimates that about 696 living Americans carry the first name Colyn. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Colyn today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colyn births was 2001 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colyn. 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
696
~ 1 in 492,463 Americans
Peak year
2001
44 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,491
Tracked since 1945
Census
Colyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 785 people with the first name Colyn, which placed it at #14,848 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
#14,848
National first-name rank
People counted
785
785 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Colyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colyn is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.8%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Colyn 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 Colyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 614
- Black or African American8.8% · 69
- Two or more races5.7% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Colyn
Colyn leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Colyn as a male name
- Ranked #12,491 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2001 (44 births)
Colyn as a female name
- Ranked #13,885 in 1995
- 5 female births in 1995
- Peak: 1982 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Colyn leans strongly male. 683 people counted with this name were male (87.8%), compared with 95 female bearers (12.2%).
Popularity
Colyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colyn from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 341 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Colyn 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 Colyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Colyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Colyn, while Michigan, Louisiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Colyn
The name Colyn is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which means "victory of the people." It originated in the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages and was initially spelled as Colin or Collin.
During the medieval period, the name gained popularity across Western Europe, particularly in France and Britain. It is believed to have been introduced to these regions by Norman settlers who arrived after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Colyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of land ownership in England completed in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Colinus, which is likely a variation of the name Colyn.
In the 12th century, the name appeared in various chronicles and literary works, such as the writings of the French poet Chrétien de Troyes, who mentioned a character named Colin Malet.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Colyn. One of the most prominent was Colyn de Coter (c. 1450-1538), a Flemish painter and a pioneer of the Antwerp Mannerist school of painting.
Another notable bearer of the name was Colyn Qvytink (c. 1470-1536), a Dutch printer and publisher who was one of the first to introduce the use of italic typefaces in printed books.
In the 16th century, Colyn Caunterbury (c. 1520-1572) was an English Protestant reformer and writer who advocated for religious reform and the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages.
During the Renaissance period, Colyn de Nole (c. 1530-1594) was a French architect and engineer who contributed to the design and construction of several notable buildings, including the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley.
In the 17th century, Colyn Campbell (1617-1696) was a Scottish soldier and nobleman who played a significant role in the Williamite War in Ireland, serving as a brigadier-general in the army of King William III.
People
Colyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colyn 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
Colyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colyn 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 492,463 US residents.
Is Colyn a common name?
We classify Colyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 710 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Colyn was 2001, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colyn is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Colyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 785 people with the name Colyn, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,848 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 Colyn 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 Colyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Colyn leans strongly male. 683 people counted with this name were male (87.8%), compared with 95 female bearers (12.2%). 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 Colyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colyn is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (8.8%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Colyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Colyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (614 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 Colyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Colyn a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Colyn 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.
Is Colyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Colyn 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 Colyn 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 common is the name Colyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Colyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.