Cohen
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Meaning
"priest"
The story
Cohen is not a name in the ordinary sense. It is the Hebrew word kohen, priest, and as a surname it marks descent from the priestly line traced to Aaron, a lineage that still carries specific duties and restrictions in Jewish practice. That is what makes its recent American life complicated. Cohen barely registers in US records before the 2000s, then arrives quickly: some four and a half thousand boys that decade and nearly ten thousand in the 2010s, riding the same wave that turned Mason and Carter from surnames into first names. Many Jewish families object to that use, and the objection deserves understanding rather than a shrug: they hear it as naming a child priest, a title that is inherited rather than chosen. Writers making that case point parents toward the names of other biblical kohanim instead, Ezra or Aaron.
How popular is Cohen around the world?
In the United States, 8,318 babies were named Cohen between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 183 boys named Cohen were born in 2024, the 187th most common name among boys that year.
Cohen is on the official records of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South Australia, Scotland, England and Wales and Ireland.
United States
1 in 2,600
In the United States, 8,318 babies were named Cohen between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cohen peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 2,000
In Canada, 183 boys named Cohen were born in 2024, the 187th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 2,400
In New Zealand, 24 boys named Cohen were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 2,6002017
In South Australia, 7 boys were registered as Cohen in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 3,500
In Scotland, 13 boys named Cohen were registered in 2024, the 290th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 5,900
In England and Wales, 100 boys named Cohen were born in 2025, the 404th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 9,000
In Ireland, 6 boys named Cohen were born in 2025, the 509th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Argentina
last on record 2019
Cohen is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Austria
last on record 2013
Cohen is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Mexico City City
last on record 2018
Cohen is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Not on the record in Spain, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Cohen
Most people given the name Cohen in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Cohen deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cohen truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Cohen fits with your family’s names and surname.
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