Corey

What Corey means

Possibly “troop, host, company”

An English surname from Old Norse from the Old Norse given name Kóri, itself perhaps from Old Irish Cuire, from cuire (“troop, host, company”), from Proto-Celtic *koryos (“army, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Corey” (revision 92413045), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Corey?

US: Falling: down from #412 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #174 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1989, when 8,003 boys got the name (#55 that year). First in the US records in 1919.

How common

• About 1 in 5,223 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,184 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,091 baby boys in Scotland 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 LA (0.52 per 1,000 boys), SC (0.52 per 1,000 boys), MS (0.46 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Corey is #778 in the US and #593 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 93.2% of US babies named Corey were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Cory160 US · 16 E&W
• Korey47 US · 5 E&W
• Kory35 US · 3 E&W
• Cary30 US · 3 E&W
• Carey13 US · 3 E&W
• Curry8 US
• Cori6 US
• Koray0 US · 4 E&W

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

If you like Corey

Boys

• Keith#800“wood”^*
• Taylor#683From the word “tailor”^*
• Douglas#807“black + stream”^*
• Curtis#984“polite, courteous”^*
• Travis#434“to cross over”^*
• Cody#318Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1992, with 19,876 babies; 1,076 in 2025

For a sister

• Tiffany#878Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1988, with 18,364 babies; 304 in 2025
• Kelsey#814Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #343 in 2015, #814 in 2025
• Kelly#851Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 18,234 babies; 319 in 2025
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Shelby#649Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1991, with 10,220 babies; 444 in 2025
• Kimberly#302Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #108 in 2015, #302 in 2025

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