Collins
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Meaning
surname, "son of Colin"
The story
Collins is an Irish surname, son of Colin, and for a century America treated it as strictly that: between about 180 and 330 a decade, decade after decade, from the 1910s through the 2000s, one of the flattest lines in our records. Then it broke upward thirteenfold: about 4,400 in the 2010s, the decade after a beloved football film gave a Southern family's daughter the name in every living room, and already 7,200 so far this decade, past the full 2010s. Decade buckets point, they do not convict. The column is decisive: about 6,900 girls to 310 boys this decade, the Palmer and Presley pipeline running at full flow. In our records the all-time split is about 10,800 girls to 3,600 boys. A hundred flat years, one film-shaped bend, and a new column: surnames keep more secrets than they tell.
How popular is Collins around the world?
In the United States, 7,192 babies were named Collins between 2020 and 2025.
Collins is on the official records of the United States, Canada, South Australia, England and Wales, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 3,000
In the United States, 7,192 babies were named Collins between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Collins peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 8,300
In Canada, 44 girls named Collins were born in 2024, the 647th most common name among girls 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)
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Collins in 2017.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
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
England and Wales
1 in 200,000
In England and Wales, 3 boys named Collins were born in 2025, ranked 5,137th among boys that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Spain
1 in 450,000
In Spain, 99 residents are named Collins, ranked 8,318th among men, with a mean age of 40.3 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2018
Collins 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 3 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)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 39 people in Brazil were named Collins, ranked 78,870th, with a median age of 36.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Ireland
last on record 2007
Collins is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 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
Montevideo City
last on record 1972
Collins is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Scotland 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 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 Collins
Most people given the name Collins 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 Collins deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Collins 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 Collins fits with your family’s names and surname.
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