Corran
A Celtic baby name meaning "spear bearer" or "he who has a spear".
Name Census estimates that about 158 living Americans carry the first name Corran. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Corran today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Corran births was 2004 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Corran. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Corran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
158
~ 1 in 2,169,331 Americans
Peak year
2004
16 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,657
Tracked since 1997
Census
Corran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 180 people with the first name Corran, which placed it at #41,022 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
#41,022
National first-name rank
People counted
180
180 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Corran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Corran is White at 70.0%. The next largest groups are Black (15.0%) and Two or More Races (8.9%). 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 Corran 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 Corran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.0% · 126
- Black or African American15.0% · 27
- Two or more races8.9% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Popularity
Corran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Corran 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 70 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Corran remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Corran 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 Corran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Corran
The name Corran is believed to have originated from the Gaelic language, with roots tracing back to ancient Celtic cultures in Ireland and Scotland. It is thought to be derived from the Old Irish word "corran," meaning "little crane" or "heron." This connection to the graceful wading bird suggests a reverence for nature and the natural world.
In early medieval times, the name Corran was primarily used in Irish and Scottish Gaelic-speaking regions. Historical records indicate that it was particularly prevalent in the northern regions of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland, where Gaelic culture and traditions were deeply rooted.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Corran can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a Corran mac Fergusa, who was a prominent leader in the Kingdom of Dál Riata (present-day western Scotland and parts of northeastern Ireland) in the 7th century.
Corran has also been associated with various historical figures throughout the centuries. In the 12th century, Corran of Clonroad was a renowned Irish poet and bard who composed works in praise of Irish kings and nobility. Another notable figure was Corran Oge MacDermott, a 16th-century Irish chieftain and leader of the MacDermott clan in County Sligo, Ireland.
In Scotland, one of the most famous bearers of the name was Corran Erskine, a 17th-century Scottish nobleman and military commander who fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was known for his bravery and loyalty to the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
Another prominent figure was Corran Maclean, a 19th-century Scottish poet and Gaelic scholar from the Isle of Mull. He was celebrated for his contributions to preserving and promoting the Gaelic language and culture through his literary works.
While the name Corran may have ancient origins, it has continued to be used throughout history, with notable individuals bearing this name in various fields, including art, literature, and politics. Some examples include Corran Naidoo, a South African anti-apartheid activist and lawyer, and Corran Ferguson, a contemporary Canadian actor known for his roles in television and film.
People
Corran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Corran 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
Corran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Corran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 158 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Corran 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 2,169,331 US residents.
Is Corran a common name?
We classify Corran as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 160 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Corran most popular?
The single biggest year for Corran was 2004, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Corran is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Corran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 180 people with the name Corran, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,022 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 Corran 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 Corran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Corran leans strongly male. 163 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 16 female bearers (8.9%). 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 Corran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Corran is White at 70.0%. The next largest groups are Black (15.0%) and Two or More Races (8.9%). 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 Corran most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Corran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.0% (126 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 Corran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Corran a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Corran 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 Corran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Corran 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 Corran 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 are called Corran?
You can see how many Americans are named Corran on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.