Skip to content

The surname Colin

A patronymic surname, carried by 8,318 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɑlɪn/ 2 syllables Soundex C450 Also a first name

Colin: #4,270 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Colin #4,270, 8,318 people Colin: #4,270 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Colin #4,270, 8,318 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Colin is more common than 97.4% of them.

Origin

(given name): * Coll + -in. Diminutive of Coll, a medieval short form of Nicholas. * It has also been used to anglicize Irish Coileán and Scottish Gaelic Cailean.

Colin is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,318 people named Colin in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 37,118 Americans. That is up 49% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,583.

#4,270
rank among US surnames
8,318
people in 2010
2.8
per 100,000 Americans
+49%
change since 2000 (was #5,697)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#4,266Hutcheson8,32137,104
#4,267Faison8,32037,109
#4,269Melchor8,31937,113
#4,270Burchett8,31837,118

Who is named Colin

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

70% of people named Colin identified as Hispanic or Latino (any race), 20% as white (not Hispanic) and 8.8% as Black (not Hispanic).

  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 70%
  • White (not Hispanic) 20%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 8.8%
  • Two or more races 0.7%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among Hispanic and Latino Americans.

Famous Colins

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Margaret Colin
    American actress, born 1958
  • Letícia Colin
    Brazilian actress and singer, born 1989
  • Jean Colin
    British actress (1905-1989)

Notable Colins come mostly from the United States (1), Brazil (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Colin

Colin has the Soundex code C450, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C450.

Questions

Where does the surname Colin come from?
(given name): * Coll + -in. Diminutive of Coll, a medieval short form of Nicholas. * It has also been used to anglicize Irish Coileán and Scottish Gaelic Cailean.
How common is the surname Colin?
8,318 people in the United States had the surname Colin in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,118 Americans. It ranked 4,270th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Colin?
In the 2010 Census, 70% of people named Colin identified as Hispanic or Latino (any race), and 20% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Colin?
Margaret Colin, American actress, followed by Letícia Colin.
Where is the surname Colin most common?
Wikidata records people named Colin in the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Colin?
Colin is /ˈkɑlɪn/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Colin?
Colin is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Colin getting more or less common?
More common. 5,583 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,318 in 2010, up 49%.
What are other spellings of Colin?
Collen and Collin.
Is Colin also a first name?
Yes. Colin is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.