🔥Colin

English diminutive of Nicholas or Irish and Scottish

"people of victory; pup"

Colin Origin and Meaning

The name Colin is a boy's name of Scottish, Greek, Irish origin meaning "people of victory; pup".

Thanks to its dashing Anglo-Irish image — due partly to Colins Firth and Farrell — and its C-initialed two-syllable sound, Colin and its cousin Collin have enjoyed a long run of popularity, reaching as high as Number 84 in 2004.

The usual pronunciation of Colin is COLL-in, but the alternate COLE-in version was publicized by General Colin Powell, the first U.S. African-American Secretary of State, who was named after World War II hero Colin Kelly.

Literary cred: Colin Craven is a character in The Secret Garden, and Colin Creevey appears in the Harry Potter books.

Both Kevin James and Kiss's Paul Stanley have young sons named Colin, while Tom Hanks has a grown one.

Colin Rank in US Top 1000

# 334 in the US

Colin Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 156 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Colin

• 334 US 2024
• 156 Nameberry 2025
• 893 England 2021
• 98 Germany 2016
• 104 Netherlands 2015
• 63 Sweden 2024
• 104 Switzerland 2023

20 Names Similar to Colin

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Colin.

• Evan
• Ian
• Joel
• Gavin
• Garrett
• Seth
• Connor
• Conor
• Collin
• Josiah
• Nate
• Issac
• Jonas
• Isaiah
• Maxwell
• Jesse
• Sean
• Shane
• Dean
• Spencer

Famous People Named Colin

• Colin Luther Powell American general and 65th Secretary of State
• Colin Ford American actor
• Colin Lewes Hanks American actor; son of Tom Hanks
• Colin Andrew Firth English actor
• Colin Egglesfield American actor
• Colin James Farrell Irish actor
• Colin Morgan Irish Actor
• Colin Campbell Cooper American painter
• Colin Alexander Cunningham American actor
• Colin Edward Quinn American comedian
• Colin Rand Kaepernick American NFL football player
• Colin O'Donoghue Irish Actor
• Colin Thomas Hannah Australian Air Force commander; 19th Governor of Queensland
• Colin Ward English anarchist writer
• Colin Todd English footballer and manager
• Colin Kelly Jost American actor and comedian
• Colin John Bond Australian racing driver
• Colin Cowherd American radio sportscaster
• Colin Patrick Henry Meloy American lead singer of band The Decemberist
• Colin Donnell American actor
• Colin Michael Stanley (b. 2006) son of American musician Paul Stanley
• Colin Woodell American actor, most known for his role as Winston Scott in Peacock's John Wick prequel series, The Continental, and Xander Phillips in Netflix's Pulse

The name Colin in Pop Culture

• Colin Craven character in F.H. Burnett's "The Secret Garden"
• Colin Creevey character in the Harry Potter series
• Colin Fisher intern on TV's "Bones"
• Colin Hart character on TV's "Everwood"
• Colin Hargreaves character in the Lady Emily Ashton series
• Colin character in "George Dandin ou le Mari confondu" by Moliere
• Colin McCrae character on TV show "Gilmore Girls"
• Colin Singleton in "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
• Colin Thatcher a main character in Mary Kubica's novel, "The Good Girl"
• Colin Bridgerton in "Bridgerton" a hit TV show on Netflix
• Colin Becher character in podcast "The Magnus Protocol"

International Variations of the name Colin

• Cóilean Irish Gaelic
• Coilin Irish
• Cailean Scottish Gaelic