Colin (given name)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colin
Given Name
Pronunciation KOL-in, KOH-lin, or KAH-lin
Meaning Various meanings including "young pup", "whelp", "cub", "victorious people", "dark", "dove"
Origin European
Wikipedia articles All pages beginning with Colin
Look up Colin in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Colin is a male given name. Colin can be pronounced KOL-in, KOH-lin, or KAH-lin. Like many given names, it has multiple origins, including:

  • an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Cailean" or "Coileain", meaning "whelp", "cub", or "young pup"
  • a diminutive form of "Colle", a short French form of Nicholas (Greek), meaning "victorious people"
  • a development of the Norse name "Koli", meaning "dark", a Middle English surname given to those living on property whose ownership was disputed
  • from the Latin name Columba, meaning "dove", which is also sometimes considered the source of "Cailean"

In the UK and Ireland the name tends to be spelt with one "L", Colin; whereas in the USA it is sometimes spelled with two, Collin. It was never a very popular name in England and Wales, probably peaking around the 1960s, and has not been in the top 100 boy's names for decades. In Scotland it ranked approximately 200th in 2007 [1], but in Ireland it is more popular, ranking 88th in 2006 [2]. Colin is becoming slowly more popular in the USA, making the top 100 boys' names in each of the three years to 2005, with Collin being slightly less popular. In total, the two spellings accounted for around 1 in 300 boys named in the USA in 2005 [3].

Colin may refer to a number of notable people:

WP Anthroponymy notice This page or section lists people with the given name Colin. If an internal link for a specific person referred you to this page, you may wish to add the surname to that link.