# Colleen (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/colleen/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | “girl” |
| Pronunciation | /kəˈlin/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 163,084 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 330 / 162,754 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 230, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From the word colleen, from Irish cailín (“girl”), not used as a name in Ireland. Colleen can also be interpreted as a variant of Coleen, which was a product of marketing by the Hollywood film industry (to promote a new starlet in the 1920s).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 154 | 1,458 |
| 2012 | 148 | 1,504 |
| 2013 | 149 | 1,489 |
| 2014 | 116 | 1,775 |
| 2015 | 115 | 1,816 |
| 2016 | 102 | 1,961 |
| 2017 | 104 | 1,932 |
| 2018 | 89 | 2,134 |
| 2019 | 95 | 2,015 |
| 2020 | 65 | 2,603 |
| 2021 | 65 | 2,648 |
| 2022 | 60 | 2,827 |
| 2023 | 83 | 2,246 |
| 2024 | 60 | 2,803 |
| 2025 | 60 | 2,829 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 11 | 3,280 |
| 1976 | 7 | 4,527 |
| 1977 | 8 | 4,233 |
| 1979 | 11 | 3,607 |
| 1980 | 14 | 3,125 |
| 1981 | 8 | 4,589 |
| 1982 | 8 | 4,667 |
| 1983 | 9 | 4,197 |
| 1984 | 6 | 5,706 |
| 1985 | 15 | 3,099 |
| 1986 | 7 | 5,436 |
| 1987 | 9 | 4,628 |
| 1988 | 6 | 6,567 |
| 1989 | 12 | 4,319 |
| 2005 | 6 | 10,345 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 25 | 864 |
| 2000 | 18 | 1,095 |
| 2001 | 15 | 1,305 |
| 2002 | 12 | 1,530 |
| 2003 | 11 | 1,722 |
| 2004 | 11 | 1,836 |
| 2005 | 7 | 2,682 |
| 2006 | 6 | 3,116 |
| 2007 | 9 | 2,410 |
| 2008 | 7 | 3,005 |
| 2009 | 4 | 4,564 |
| 2010 | 7 | 3,156 |
| 2011 | 6 | 3,549 |
| 2014 | 3 | 5,691 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4,763 |

## People named Colleen

- Colleen McCullough, Australian author (1937-2015)
- Colleen Hoover, American author
- Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (1924-1991)
- Colleen Moore, American actress (1899–1988)
- Colleen Ballinger, American comedian, singer, actress, writer and media personality
- Colleen Camp, American actress and film producer
- Colleen Atwood, American costume designer
- Colleen Miller, American actress
- Colleen Hanabusa, American politician (1951-2026)
- Colleen Brennan, American pornographic actress (born 1949)
- Colleen Haskell, American reality television contestant
- Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.