Kolten
A masculine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "small town dweller".
Name Census estimates that about 5,707 living Americans carry the first name Kolten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kolten today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kolten births was 2015 (308 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kolten. 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
- • Kolten is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
5.7K
~ 1 in 60,059 Americans
Peak year
2015
308 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,470
Tracked since 1987
Census
Kolten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,297 people with the first name Kolten, which placed it at #4,378 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
#4,378
National first-name rank
People counted
4.3K
4,297 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kolten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kolten is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Kolten 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 Kolten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.1% · 3,658
- Two or more races6.1% · 261
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 178
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 62
- Black or African American1.4% · 59
Popularity
Kolten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kolten from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,690 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kolten remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kolten 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 Kolten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Koltens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Texas, Missouri, Ohio recorded the most babies named Kolten, while South Carolina, Wyoming, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 101 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kolten
The name Kolten is a unique and intriguing one, with a rich history that spans across cultures and centuries. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Germanic tribes, where it was derived from the Old Norse word "koltr," which meant "dark" or "dusky."
As the Germanic tribes migrated across Europe, the name Kolten underwent various transformations, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. In the Middle Ages, it was often written as "Kolten" or "Colten," and was particularly prevalent in regions such as modern-day Germany, Austria, and parts of Scandinavia.
While the name Kolten does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been recorded in historical documents and records throughout the centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Kolten von Eichstätt, a German nobleman who lived in the 12th century and played a significant role in the Crusades.
In the following centuries, the name Kolten continued to be used, albeit sparingly, across various parts of Europe. Notable individuals who carried this name include Kolten Grimmelshausen (1625-1676), a German author and satirist known for his picaresque novel "Simplicissimus"; Kolten Huber (1701-1759), an Austrian mathematician and philosopher; and Kolten Weigel (1804-1878), a German botanist and naturalist.
As time passed, the name Kolten gradually became more widespread, transcending geographical boundaries and cultural contexts. In the 19th century, Kolten Strauss (1825-1899), a German-American politician and lawyer, made a name for himself in the United States, where he served as a member of the California State Assembly.
More recently, the name Kolten has gained popularity in the world of sports, with several notable athletes bearing this moniker. Kolten Wong (born 1990) is an American professional baseball player who currently plays for the Seattle Mariners, while Kolten Mundil (born 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player.
Despite its somewhat obscure origins, the name Kolten has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on history, carried by a diverse array of individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields, from literature and philosophy to politics and sports.
People
Kolten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kolten as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kolten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kolten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,707 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kolten 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 60,059 US residents.
Is Kolten a common name?
We classify Kolten as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,770 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kolten most popular?
The single biggest year for Kolten was 2015, when 308 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kolten is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kolten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,297 people with the name Kolten, or 1.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,378 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 Kolten 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 Kolten?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kolten appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,296 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Kolten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kolten is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Kolten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kolten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (3,658 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 Kolten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kolten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kolten 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 Kolten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kolten 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 Kolten 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 share the name Kolten?
Find out how many Americans are named Kolten on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.