Cotey
A diminutive form of Cody, a masculine name of uncertain origin.
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Cotey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cotey today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cotey births was 1993 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cotey. 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
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1993
18 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2001 SSA rank
#9,481
Tracked since 1984
Census
Cotey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 156 people with the first name Cotey, which placed it at #44,397 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
#44,397
National first-name rank
People counted
156
156 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cotey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cotey is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Cotey 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 Cotey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.3% · 133
- Black or African American7.7% · 12
- Two or more races3.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Cotey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cotey from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 95 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cotey 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 Cotey 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 Cotey
The given name Cotey has its roots in the ancient Celtic culture, with origins that can be traced back to the 5th century AD. It is believed to have derived from the Old Breton word "coed," meaning "wood" or "forest," signifying a connection to nature and the great outdoors.
During the early medieval period, the name was predominantly found in the regions of Brittany, France, and parts of modern-day Wales and Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was often associated with individuals who lived in or near forested areas, reflecting the strong ties between the Celtic people and their natural surroundings.
While there are no known direct references to the name in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is worth noting that the concept of reverence for nature and the sanctity of woodlands was deeply rooted in Celtic mythology and belief systems.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cotey can be found in the 9th century, with a Breton chieftain named Cotey ap Gwilym, who led a rebellion against the Frankish rulers in the region. Another notable figure was Cotey de Lanvaux, a 12th-century Breton nobleman and landowner whose family held significant influence in the area.
In the 14th century, a Welsh poet named Cotey Fychan gained recognition for his contributions to the development of the Welsh literary tradition, particularly in the realm of love poetry.
Moving forward in history, the name Cotey was also associated with a 16th-century French explorer and navigator, Cotey de La Roche, who led several expeditions to the coast of North America and is credited with establishing the first European settlement in what is now Canada.
Another noteworthy individual bearing the name was Cotey O'Brien, an Irish soldier who fought alongside the legendary Irish leader Michael Collins during the Irish Revolutionary period in the early 20th century.
It is important to acknowledge that while the name Cotey has its origins in Celtic culture, it has since been adopted and adapted by various other cultures and communities around the world, each adding their own unique meaning and significance to this ancient name.
People
Cotey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cotey 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
Cotey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cotey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cotey 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Cotey a common name?
We classify Cotey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cotey most popular?
The single biggest year for Cotey was 1993, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cotey is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cotey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 156 people with the name Cotey, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,397 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 Cotey 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 Cotey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cotey leans strongly male. 147 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 10 female bearers (6.4%). 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 Cotey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cotey is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Cotey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cotey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.3% (133 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 Cotey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cotey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cotey 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 Cotey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cotey 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 Cotey 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 Americans are named Cotey?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.