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Coy

#1,451 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Quiet, shy, coy

Coy has been given to 18,214 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,451 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1926, with 264 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% boys, 5% girls all-time.

Babies named Coy, 2025

1 in 27,000

Coy over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Coy went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

18802025

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.

Coy: meaning, origin, and history

Quiet, shy, coy

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Coy means

Coy means “quiet, shy, coy”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 17,348 boys were recorded with the name Coy between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 264 in 1926; its best national rank was #299 in 1910.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,379 in 2020 to #1,451 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,297 in 2015 to #1,451 in 2025.

In the United States, 866 girls were recorded with the name Coy between 1895 and 2014. Its highest annual count was 23 in 1918; its best national rank was #1,140 in 1895.

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 Coy?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 27,000
123 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 13,900
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,451
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
18,683 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Coy 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 18,683 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Coy. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Coys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Coy was born before 1953 — so the typical Coy is around 72 today.

Median birth year
1953
About 72 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
13.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
19.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
9,234
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 13.0% of all recorded uses (2,263).

Is Coy 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
+53
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−72
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−154
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.90×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
46.6%
Peak was 1926 (264)
Years since peak
99
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
10.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#299
1910

Where Coy is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Coy was most concentrated in Iowa — about 1 in 3,704 boys, against 1 in 12,365 across all states with data. It was least common in Kentucky (1 in 50,000).

227 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Iowa1 in 3,704
  2. 2Nebraska1 in 4,348
  3. 3Oklahoma1 in 4,348
  4. 4Arkansas1 in 4,762
  5. 5Montana1 in 5,000
  6. 6Louisiana1 in 6,250
  7. 7South Dakota1 in 7,692
  8. 8Tennessee1 in 8,333

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.

Where Coy is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Coy was most concentrated in Arkansas — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 515,860 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arkansas1 in 100,000
  2. 2Alabama1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Coy has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Coy around the world

Where Coy 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.

  • Canada
    2006–2016
    #2,748
    in 2016

Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Coy

People whose public names include Coy, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Coy in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Coy. Linked forms have their own page here.

Koy

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Coy by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,451
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 72
Best rank ever
#299
1910
Peak year
1926
264 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
17,348
Count in 2025
123

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,140
1895
Peak year
1918
23 that year
First recorded
1895
Last recorded
2014
All-time count
866
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Coy

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

MccoyCoyeMacoyCoytCoyoteCoyleCoyerMaccoyCoyalCoyteJacoyNicoy

Names with a curve like Coy

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

ElvinHarrisUlyssesRaleighAubreyCarmineVitoJulesWileyHollisArmandMervin

Sibling names for Coy

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 Coy

Top names of 1926, Coy's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1910More old man namesBoys' names starting with C