Colin (given name)

Updated on Oct 23, 2023

Edit

Comment

Pronunciation /ˈkoʊlᵻn/ or /ˈkɒlᵻn/ Word/name Gaelic		Gender male Region of origin Scotland, Ireland
Meaning Various meanings including "young pup", "whelp", "cub", "victorious people", "dark", "dove"

Colin (sometimes spelled Collin) is a male given name. Colin is usually pronounced /ˈkɒlᵻn/ KO-lin, although some (primarily in the US) use /ˈkoʊlᵻn/ KOH-lin.

Like many given names, it has multiple origins, including:

an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Cailean" or "Coileáin", meaning "whelp", "cub", or "young pup";

a diminutive form of Nicolas (before the 17th century in England, most nicknames had the diminutive ending "in" or "Kin", where the ending is attached to the first syllable, a few remain such as Robin (Rob-in, from Robert), Hank (Hen-Kin from Henry), Jack (Jan-kin from John), and Colin (Col-in from Nicolas));

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;

In the UK and Ireland, the name is spelt with one "L", Colin; in the US, it is sometimes spelt with two, Collin, reflecting a different pronunciation. It 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. Colin is slowly becoming more popular in the US, 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 US in 2005.

People

Colin may refer to a number of notable people:

A–E

Colin Baker, British actor

Colin Bean, British actor

Colin Bell, Manchester City and England footballer

Colin Bland, South African cricketer

Colin Blunstone, singer from the Zombies

Colin Braun, American race car driver

Colin Burgess (musician) (born 1946), Australian Musician

Colin C. Berry, Canadian actor

Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer, coach and manager

Sir Colin Campbell (died 1296), Scottish warrior and progenitor of Clan Campbell

Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist painter

Colin Campbell Mitchell, British Army lieutenant-colonel and politician

Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, (1792–1863) Scottish soldier

See Colin Campbell (disambiguation) for more people with this name

Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars

Colin Clark (disambiguation)

Colin Clive, British actor

Colin Coates (born 1946), Australian ice speed skater

Colin Cowdrey, English cricketer

Colin Cowherd, American sports radio personality

Colin Croft, West Indian cricketer

Colin Cunningham (swimmer), British swimmer

Colin Cunningham, American film and TV actor

Colin Davis, English conductor

Colin Delaney, American professional wrestler

Colin Edwards, American motorcycle racer

Colin Egglesfield, American actor

Colin Emerle, American musician

F–M

Colin Farrell, Irish actor

Colin Ferguson (actor), Canadian actor

Colin Ferguson (mass murderer), American mass murderer

Colin Firth (born 1960), British actor

Colin Fox (actor), Canadian actor

Colin Greening, Canadian pro hockey player

Colin Greenwood, bassist for rock band Radiohead

Colin Griffiths, comedian

Colin Hanks, American actor

Colin Hay (born 1953), Scottish-Australian lead singer of Men at Work

Colin Hendry (born 1965), Scottish footballer

Colin Huggins (born 1978), American classical pianist and busker

Cuilén mac Ildulb (died 971), King of Scots

Colin Jackson, Welsh hurdler

Colin Jost, American comedian, screenwriter, and TV actor

Colin Kaepernick, American NFL footballer

Colin Kelly, American aviator and war hero of the Second World War

Colin Lane (born 1965), Australian comedian

Colin Maclaurin, Scottish mathematician

Colin Mathura-Jeffree, New Zealand actor/model/celebrity

Colin McAllister, Scottish interior designer and television presenter.

Colin McComb, American game designer

Colin McGinn, British philosopher

Colin McRae (1968–2007), Scottish rally driver

Colin Meads, New Zealand rugby union player

Colin Meloy, American guitarist and singer in The Decemberists

Colin Mochrie, Scottish Canadian actor/improv comedian

Colin Montgomerie, Scottish golfer

Colin Morgan, Irish actor

Colin Moulding, bassist and singer for band XTC

Colin Murray, British radio DJ and television presenter

N–Z

Col Needham, founder of the Internet Movie Database

Colin Newman, singer and guitarist for band Wire

Colin O'Donoghue, Irish actor

Colin Pillinger, British planetary scientist

Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State

Colin Quinn, American comedian

Colin Raston, Australian chemist and Ig Nobel Laureate

Colin Reitz, British long-distance runner

Colin Richardson, music producer

Colin Slade, New Zealand rugby union player

Colin Stagg, the man wrongly imprisoned in the Rachel Nickell murder case

Colin Touchin, British musician and conductor

Colin Turnbull, sociologist and author

Colin Vearncombe, singer known as Black

Colin Ward, political writer

Colin Welland, British actor and screenwriter

Colin Wilson, British writer

See Colin Wilson (disambiguation) for more people with this name

Colin Winter, bishop

In fiction

Colin Creevey, fictional character from the Harry Potter series

Colin Craven, fictional character from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Colin Clout, fictional poetic folk figure, appearing first in the works of John Skelton and later in many works by Edmund Spenser, including his first major poetic work The Shepheardes Calender

References

Colin (given name) Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

People

A–E

F–M

N–Z

In fiction

References