Collins
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.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Collins peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
39 people · the #78,870 first name in Brazil · median age 36
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
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.
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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