MEANING & HISTORY
What does Colin mean?
Colin developed in French and English from Coll, a short form of Nicholas, with a diminutive ending. It has also represented Gaelic Cailean, a different naming route.
The Nicholas route leads to victory of the people; it should not be merged with every proposed Gaelic gloss. The shared spelling does not choose one universal origin.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈkɒlɪn/Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈkəʊlɪn/Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈkɑlɪn/US
- /ˈkoʊlɪn/US
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
(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.
A male given name; A diminutive of the male given name Nicholas, from Ancient Greek.; A male given name from Old Irish; A male given name from Irish; A male given name from Scottish Gaelic
EnglishEtymology & source
Clipping of Nicholas
A diminutive of the male given name Nicholas, of rare usage. A medieval English short form of the male given name Nicholas; very rare today.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Middle English Nicholas, from Old French Nicholas, from Latin Nīcolāus, from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”) + λαός (laós, “people”).
A male given name from Ancient Greek, notably born by St. Nicholas of Myre, on whom Father Christmas is based.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Colin
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Jose Colin Mendoza Bagaforo
Roman Catholic Bishop
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
1
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Jose Colin Mendoza Bagaforo
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Colin in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Colin
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Tolin♂Shortened Antolin
- Coleen♀Variant of Colleen; girl
- Antolin♂Antolin/Antolín, from Latin Antoninus
- Antolín♂Spanish form of Antoninus
- Caitlin♀English rendering of Irish Caitlín, from Katherine
- Coleta·Medieval short form in the Nicole family
- Connie♀Familiar form of Constance and other Con-names
- Cora♀Maiden; Latinized form of Greek Kore
What rhymes with Colin?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Colin further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q495635 — Colin (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Jose Colin Mendoza Bagaforo (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q495635 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Colin (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Colin (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Colin (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Colin (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.