Coyle
Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Comhdhail, meaning "descendant of Comhdhail".
Name Census estimates that about 44 living Americans carry the first name Coyle. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Coyle today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Coyle births was 1943 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Coyle. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Coyle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
44
~ 1 in 7,789,871 Americans
Peak year
1943
9 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,671
Tracked since 1915
Census
Coyle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 173 people with the first name Coyle, which placed it at #41,949 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
#41,949
National first-name rank
People counted
173
173 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Coyle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coyle is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Black (12.7%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Coyle 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 Coyle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.6% · 136
- Black or African American12.7% · 22
- Two or more races4.6% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Coyle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Coyle from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 37 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Coyle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Coyle 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 Coyle 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 Coyle
The name Coyle is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic language, specifically from the word "cadhla," which means "slender" or "graceful." This name has been in use for centuries and can be traced back to medieval Ireland.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Coyle is found in ancient Irish genealogical records dating back to the 11th century. These records mention individuals bearing the name in the northern counties of Ireland, particularly in the regions of Ulster and Donegal.
In the 13th century, the name Coyle is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, a renowned chronicle of medieval Irish history. This text references a prominent Irish family of the time with the surname Coyle, suggesting that the name had gained recognition and was associated with a specific lineage.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Coyle. One such person is Edmund Coyle (1619-1695), an Irish Catholic priest and theologian who actively defended the rights of Catholics during the Penal Laws in Ireland.
Another historical figure with the name Coyle is John Coyle (1768-1823), an Irish soldier who served in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He was awarded the Military General Service Medal for his valor and bravery in battle.
In the realm of literature, James Coyle (1848-1923) was an Irish novelist and playwright known for his works depicting the lives of the working class in Dublin. His novel "The Draymen" is considered one of the earliest examples of urban realism in Irish literature.
Bridget Coyle (1870-1942) was an Irish activist and trade unionist who played a significant role in the women's labor movement in the early 20th century. She fought for better working conditions and equal pay for women workers in Ireland.
In the field of sports, John Coyle (1923-2003) was an Australian rules football player who represented the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League) during the 1940s and 1950s. He was a talented full-forward and a leading goal-scorer for his team.
These examples illustrate the rich history and diverse backgrounds of individuals who have borne the name Coyle throughout the centuries, spanning various fields and regions.
People
Coyle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Coyle 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
Coyle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Coyle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 44 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Coyle 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 7,789,871 US residents.
Is Coyle a common name?
We classify Coyle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 52.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 116 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Coyle most popular?
The single biggest year for Coyle was 1943, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Coyle is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Coyle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 173 people with the name Coyle, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,949 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 Coyle 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 Coyle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Coyle leans strongly male. 173 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.3%). 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 Coyle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Coyle is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Black (12.7%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Coyle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Coyle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.6% (136 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 Coyle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Coyle a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Coyle 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 Coyle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Coyle 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 Coyle 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 Coyle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.