Collin

What Collin means

Diminutive of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”

diminutive of the male given name Nicholas || From Middle English Nicholas, from Old French Nicholas, from Latin Nīcolāus, from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”) +‎ λαός (laós, “people”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Collin” (revision 94538453) and “Nicholas” (revision 94542075), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Collin?

US: Falling: down from #261 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1996, when 3,358 boys got the name (#115 that year). First in the US records in 1895.

How common

• About 1 in 2,786 baby boys in the US in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in ME (1.3 per 1,000 boys), KY (1.02 per 1,000 boys), LA (0.94 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Collin is #493 in the US. It is not in the England & Wales list for 2025.

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.0% of US babies named Collin were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Callan1,917 US · 56 E&W
• Colin950 US · 17 E&W
• Callen579 US · 7 E&W
• Cullen194 US · 7 E&W
• Kellin44 US
• Kollin38 US
• Kolin18 US
• Calin14 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Colin
• Collen

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Collin

Boys

• Christian#96Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 16,059 babies; 3,641 in 2025
• Andy#565Diminutive of Andrew, meaning “manly”^*
• Alexis#513“helper, defender”^*
• Alexander#30“to defend + man”^*
• Jason#165“I heal”^*
• Alex#232Short form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*

For a sister

• Alexis#554“helper, defender”^*
• Angel#546Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2002, with 3,100 babies; 551 in 2025
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Karina#749Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Alexandra#237“to defend + man”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Collin’s. Rank is US 2025.