Name Awesome

Coley

#9,071 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Coley has been given to 2,377 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #9,071 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1993, with 37 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 85% boys, 15% girls all-time.

Babies named Coley, 2025

1 in 414,000

Coley over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Coley over time

In 2025, Coley went to 47% girls and 53% boys.

18812025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Coley: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Coley means

Coley is a given name.

The naming story behind Coley

Wikidata records Coley as a given name. The entity identifier is Q63125588, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,029 boys were recorded with the name Coley between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 37 in 1993; its best national rank was #624 in 1893.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #8,893 in 2020 to #9,071 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #8,901 in 2015 to #9,071 in 2025.

In the United States, 348 girls were recorded with the name Coley between 1976 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 23 in 2008; its best national rank was #5,985 in 2008.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #8,510 in 2020 to #12,181 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,713 in 2015 to #12,181 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Coley?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 213,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#9,071
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Coley sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Coley. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Coleys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Coley was born before 1967 — so the typical Coley is around 58 today.

Median birth year
1967
About 58 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
11.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
14.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,278
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 11.5% of all recorded uses (233).

Is Coley rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,023
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−178
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−170
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.00×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
21.6%
Peak was 1993 (37)
Years since peak
32
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#624
1893

Spellings of Coley

Coley is not the most common spelling — Caleb is, with 17.3% against Coley's 0.11%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Coley is used

Across 1910–2025, Coley was most concentrated in South Carolina — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 119,685 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1South Carolina1 in 25,000
  2. 2Alabama1 in 100,000
  3. 3Georgia1 in 100,000
  4. 4North Carolina1 in 100,000
  5. 5Mississippi1 in —
  6. 6Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Coley has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Coley around the world

Where Coley ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2010–2016
    #4,810
    in 2016

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Coley by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,071
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 178
Best rank ever
#624
1893
Peak year
1993
37 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,029
Count in 2025
8

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#12,181
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,671
Best rank ever
#5,985
2008
Peak year
2008
23 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
348
Count in 2025
7

Names similar to Coley

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ColsenColtynColtinColmanColvinColdenCollierCollynColonColesonArleyColmColetonRyleyColstonHadleyCollinsRadleyHenleyRidleyColynColsonAdleyAtley

Names with a curve like Coley

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Coley, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ConradoDionicioCiprianoNevilleModestoRosalioCandidoDelfinoNarcisoAnselmoAnastacioCelestino

Sibling names for Coley

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Coley

Top names of 1993, Coley's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1893Boys' names starting with C