Colin is an English-language masculine given name. It has two distinct origins:
A diminutive form of "Colle", itself an Old French short form of the name Nicolas. This name, but not the anglicized Gaelic name, is also found in the spelling Collin. This name is formed by the Old French diminutive -in also found in Robin.
An anglicisation of the Irish given name Coileán or the Scottish Gaelic name Cailean, which both come from the Old Irish word cuilén "pup, cub". The Scottish Gaelic name is recorded in the spelling Colin from as early as the 14th century. MacCailean was a patronymic used by Clan Campbell, after Cailean Mór (died 1296).
As a surname, Colin can be derived from the given name, but can also be of unrelated (French) origin.
The Irish patronymic Ó Coileáin gave rise to the surname Cullen (which is also the anglicization of the unrelated patronymic Ó Cuilinn).
In England and Wales, Colin was one of the Top 100 most commonly given male names for most of the 20th century but declined greatly at the end of the century and since. It rose steadily from 96th in 1904 to 82nd in 1914, 61st in 1924, 26th in 1934 and 15th in 1944. It then declined to 22nd in 1954, 25th in 1964, 44th in 1974 and 67th in 1984. The decline then accelerated and Colin ranked 319th most popular name England and Wales in 1996 and 684th most popular in 2014. It has been moderately popular in the United States and was listed in the top 100 boys names in the U.S. in 2005. In Scotland it ranked 302 in 2014, but in Ireland it is more popular, ranking 88th in 2006.
In the US, Colin peaked in 2004 at rank 84, but has substantially declined since (rank 196 as of 2016). The form Collin reached the peak of its popularity somewhat earlier, at rank 115 in 1996, and has declined to rank 298 as of 2016. Taken together, the names Colin and Collin accounted for 0.16% (about 1 in 620) of boys named in the US in 2016, down from 0.4% (one in 250) in 2004.
Contents
People called Colin
Medieval and early modern
Cuilén mac Ildulb (died 971), King of Alba
Cailean Mór (died 1296), Scottish chief, progenitor of Clan Campbell
Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll (died 1493)
Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll (died 1529)
Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll (died 1584)
Modern
Colin Addison (1940–2025), English football player and manager
Colin Alevras (1971–2022), American restaurateur
Colin Allred (born 1983), American politician
Colin Bailie (born 1964), Northern Ireland footballer
Colin Baker (born 1943), British actor
Colin Barber (baseball) (born 2000), American baseball player
Colin Bean (1926–2009), British actor
Colin Bell, several people
Colin Blakely (1930–1987), Irish actor
Colin Blanchard (born 1970), English paedophile convicted in the 2009 Plymouth child abuse case
Colin Bland (1938–2018), South African cricketer
Colin Blunstone (born 1945), English singer from the Zombies
Colin Braun (born 1988), American race car driver
Colin Burgess (musician) (born 1946), Australian Musician
Colin C. Berry, Canadian actor
Colin Cairnes, Australian film director and writer
Colin Calderwood (born 1965), Scottish footballer, coach and manager
Colin Campbell Mitchell (1925–1996), British Army lieutenant-colonel and politician
Fictional characters
Colin, a character from the 1965 film Repulsion
Colin, the titular character of the English comic series Colin the Vet
Colin, a character in the 2006 video game Need for Speed: Carbon
Colin, an anthropomorphic computer from Don't Hug Me I'm Scared
Colin Creevey, a character from the Harry Potter series
Colin Craven, a character from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Colin Clout, poetic folk figure, appearing first in the works of John Skelton and later in many works by Edmund Spenser
Colin Evans, main antagonist of the 2014 film No Good Deed
Colin Frater, a character from Ip Man 4: The Finale
Colin Mallory, a main character in the television series Sliders
Colin Robinson, a character from What We Do in the Shadows
Colin Bridgerton, third son of Bridgerton family from Bridgerton series
Colin Ritman, a character from 2018 interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
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Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, (1792–1863) Scottish soldier
See Colin Campbell (disambiguation) for more people with this name
Colin Cassady (born 1986), American professional wrestler
Colin Chapman (1928–1982), English founder of Lotus Cars
Colin Clark (disambiguation)
Colin Clive (1900–1937), British-American actor
Colin Coates (born 1946), Australian ice speed skater
Colin Campbell Cooper (1856–1937), American painter
Colin Cowdrey (1932–2000), English cricketer
Colin Cowherd (born 1964), American sports radio personality
Colin Croft (born 1953), West Indian cricketer
Colin Crouch (born 1944), British political scientist
Colin Cunningham (swimmer) (born 1954), British swimmer
Colin Cunningham (born 1966), American film and TV actor
Colin Dagba (born 1998), French Footballer
Colin Davis (1927–2013), English conductor
Colin Delaney (born 1986), American professional wrestler
Colin Dowdeswell (born 1955), Rhodesian, Swiss, and British tennis player
Colin Edwards (born 1974), American motorcycle racer
Colin Edwin (born 1970), Australian musician
Colin Egglesfield (born 1973), American actor
Colin Emerle (born 1979), American musician
Colin Falvey (born 1985), Irish footballer
Colin Farrell (born 1976), Irish actor
Colin Ferguson (born 1972), Canadian actor
Colin Ferguson (mass murderer), American mass murderer
Colin Firth (born 1960), British actor
Colin Ford (1996), American actor
Colin Fox (actor) (1938–2025), Canadian actor
Colin Furze (born 1979), British YouTuber
Colin Gardner (c. 1940 – 2010), English football official and philanthropist
Colin Greening (born 1986), Canadian pro hockey player
Colin Greenwood (born 1969), English bassist for rock band Radiohead
Colin Griffiths (born 1983), English comedian
Colin Hanks (born 1977), American actor
Colin Hay (born 1953), Scottish-Australian lead singer of Men at Work
Colin Heathcock (born 2005), American fencer
Colin Hendry (born 1965), Scottish footballer
Colin Heydt, American philosopher
Colin Holba (born 1994), American football player
Colin Huggins (born 1978), American classical pianist and busker
Colin Ireland (1954–2012), British serial killer
Colin Jackson (born 1967), Welsh hurdler
Colin Jost (born 1982), American comedian, screenwriter, and TV actor
Colin Kaepernick (born 1987), American NFL football player
Colin Kelly (1915–1941), American aviator and WWII hero
Colin Kroll (died 2018), American internet entrepreneur
Colin Lane (born 1965), Australian comedian
Colin Mackenzie, (1754–1821), Scottish soldier and surveyor
See Colin Mackenzie (disambiguation) for more people with this name
Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746), Scottish mathematician
Colin Mason (1926–2020), New Zealand-Australian politician and writer
Colin Mathura-Jeffree (born 1972), New Zealand actor/model/celebrity
Colin McAllister (born 1968), Scottish interior designer and TV presenter
Colin McCahon (1919–1987), New Zealand artist
Colin McComb (born 1970), American game designer
Colin McFarlane (born 1961), English actor
Colin McGinn (born 1950), British philosopher
Colin McLoughlin, British freelance writer
Colin McRae (1968–2007), Scottish rally driver
Colin Meads (1936–2017), New Zealand rugby union player
Colin Meloy (born 1974), American guitarist and singer in The Decemberists
Colin Milner Smith (1936–2020), English cricketer and judge
Colin Mochrie (born 1957), Scottish Canadian actor/improv comedian
Colin Montgomerie (born 1963), Scottish golfer
Colin Morgan (born 1986), Irish actor
Colin Moulding (born 1955), bassist and singer for band XTC
Colin Murdoch (1929–2008), New Zealand medical inventor
Colin Murray (born 1977), British radio DJ and television presenter
Colin Needham (born 1967), founder of the Internet Movie Database
Colin Newman (born 1954), singer and guitarist
Colin O'Donoghue (born 1981), Irish actor
Colin Pillinger (1943–2014), British planetary scientist
Colin Powell (1937–2021), U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Quinn (born 1959), American comedian
Colin Raston (born 1950), Australian chemist and Ig Nobel Laureate
Colin Reitz (born 1960), British long-distance runner
Colin Reynolds, Canadian politician
Colin Richardson, music producer
Colin Henderson Roberts (1909–1990), British classical scholar and publisher
Colin P. Rourke (1943–2024), British mathematician
Colin Schooler (born 1997), American football player
Colin Slade (born 1987), New Zealand rugby union player
Colin Simmons (born 2006), American football player
Colin Stagg, man wrongly imprisoned in the Rachel Nickell murder case
Colin Touchin (1953–2022), British musician and conductor
Colin Townsley (1942–1987), firefighter and George Medal recipient
Colin Thompson (disambiguation), several people
Colin Thorne (born 1952), British academic
Colin Turnbull (1924–1994), sociologist and author
Colin Vearncombe (1962–2016), singer known as Black
Colin Ward (1924–2010), political writer
Colin Watkinson, British cinematographer
Colin Welland (1934–2015), British actor and screenwriter
Colin West (born 1962), English football player and coach
Colin West (author) (born 1951), English children's author and illustrator
Colin West (footballer, born 1967), English football player
Colin Wilson (1931–2013), British writer
See Colin Wilson (disambiguation) for more people with this name
Colin Winter (1928–1981), bishop
Colin Winchester (1933–1989), assistant commissioner in the Australian Federal Police
Colin Woodell (born 1991), American actor
Colin Young (Born 2007), a Scottish video game developer.
Colin is an English-language masculine given name. It has two distinct origins:A diminutive form of "Colle", itself an Old French short form of the name Nicolas. This name, but not the anglicized Gaelic name, is also found in the spelling Collin. This name is formed by the Old French diminutive -in also found in Robin.