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Kolya

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Literal meaning not recorded

Kolya has been given to 20 babies in the U.S. since 1987. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1987, with 9 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 70% boys, 30% girls all-time.

Babies named Kolya, 2002

1 in 747,000

Kolya over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2002, Kolya went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19872002

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.

Kolya: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Kolya means

Kolya is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Kolya is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 14 boys were recorded with the name Kolya between 1987 and 2002. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1987; its best national rank was #4,766 in 1987.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Kolya between 1999 and 1999. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1999; its best national rank was #13,577 in 1999.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Kolya?

Kolya had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2002, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2002
1 in 747,000
5 of 3,737,275 births
Among boys only
1 in 388,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2002
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
518,097 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Kolya 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 2002 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 518,097 children born in 2002 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Kolya. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Kolyas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Kolya was born before 1987 — so the typical Kolya is around 38 today.

Median birth year
1987
About 38 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
64.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
14
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 64.3% of all recorded uses (9).

Is Kolya 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1987 (9)
Years since peak
38
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Not enough data
Too few years
Best rank ever
#4,766
1987

Spellings of Kolya

Kolya is not the most common spelling — Kody is, with 24.2% against Kolya's 0.01%.

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.

Kolya around the world

Where Kolya 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.

  • France
    1998–2020
    #4,886
    in 2020
  • South Australia
    1985–2007
    #680
    in 2007

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Kolya by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,766
1987
Peak year
1987
9 that year
First recorded
1987
Last recorded
2002
All-time count
14
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#13,577
1999
Peak year
1999
6 that year
First recorded
1999
Last recorded
1999
All-time count
6
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Kolya

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

KolstynKolebyKoladeKoliKolbinKolesenKolvinKoldynKollinsKolesynKolbynKollierKolbenKolstenKolbeeKolbeyKolsynKolestonKoltynnKoldenKolynKollenKolbieKolbi

Sibling names for Kolya

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 Kolya

Top names of 1987, Kolya's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1987Boys' names starting with K