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Colm

#6,877 in 2025Boys' name

Dove

Colm has been given to 662 babies in the U.S. since 1962. In 2025 it ranked #6,877 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 28 recorded.

Babies named Colm, 2025

1 in 276,000

Colm over time, 1880–2025

Boys
010203018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Colm: meaning, origin, and history

Dove

Irish and Latin

What Colm means

Colm means “dove”, associated with Columba.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Irish Colm, from Late Latin Columba (literally “dove”), the name of a sixth century saint, one of the patron saints of Ireland and Scotland. Doublet of Calum.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Colm (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Colm is used in English and Irish. Its origins include Irish and Latin.

Colm comes through Irish Colm and Late Latin Columba.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Calum.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Colm is pronounced /ˈkɒləm/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 662 boys were recorded with the name Colm between 1962 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 28 in 2007; its best national rank was #2,825 in 1965.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,894 in 2020 to #6,877 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,393 in 2015 to #6,877 in 2025.

How common is Colm?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 276,000
12 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 142,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#6,877
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
191,493 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Colm 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 191,493 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Colm. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Colms were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Colm was born before 2004 — so the typical Colm is around 21 today.

Median birth year
2004
About 21 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
28.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
59.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
662
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 28.5% of all recorded uses (189).

Is Colm 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
−634
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,017
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−484
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.92×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
42.9%
Peak was 2007 (28)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
36.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,825
1965

Spellings of Colm

Colm is not the most common spelling — Cody is, with 27.7% against Colm's 0.06%.

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 Colm is used

Across 1910–2025, Colm was most concentrated in Massachusetts — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,485,545 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Massachusetts1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 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. Colm has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Colm around the world

Where Colm 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
    1996–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024
  • Scotland
    1978–2011
    #544
    in 2011
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2021
    #433
    in 2021
  • Ireland
    1964–2025
    #286
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1993–2017
    #2,944
    in 2017
  • South Australia
    1989–1998
    #534
    in 1998

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Colm by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,877
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,017
Best rank ever
#2,825
1965
Peak year
2007
28 that year
First recorded
1962
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
662
Count in 2025
12

Names similar to Colm

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

CollynColeyColdenColvinColmanColbieColynColieColenColtynColsenColonColsynCollenColtinColstonColtanColbeyColanCollierCollieColaCollisColeson

Sibling names for Colm

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 Colm

Top names of 2007, Colm's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1965Boys' names starting with CBird NamesIrish Boy Names