Head to head · Boys' names
Boston vs Koen
#620 vs #622 in 2025
Boston is a whisker ahead (#620 vs #622 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Boston is holding its place on the charts, Koen is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Koen has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Boston leads 5 measures of 6; Koen leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Boston #946, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1890s: Boston #901, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1900s: Boston #1150, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1910s: Boston #2151, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1920s: Boston #2479, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1930s: Boston #2803, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1940s: Boston #2660, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1950s: Boston #3286, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1960s: Boston #3923, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1970s: Boston #5042, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1980s: Boston #3880, Koen — — Boston higher
- 1990s: Boston #1904, Koen #5932 — Boston higher
- 2000s: Boston #938, Koen #1626 — Boston higher
- 2010s: Boston #591, Koen #1094 — Boston higher
- 2020s: Boston #615, Koen #818 — Boston higher
Boston stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Boston | Koen |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #946 | — |
| 1890s | #901 | — |
| 1900s | #1150 | — |
| 1910s | #2151 | — |
| 1920s | #2479 | — |
| 1930s | #2803 | — |
| 1940s | #2660 | — |
| 1950s | #3286 | — |
| 1960s | #3923 | — |
| 1970s | #5042 | — |
| 1980s | #3880 | — |
| 1990s | #1904 | #5932 |
| 2000s | #938 | #1626 |
| 2010s | #591 | #1094 |
| 2020s | #615 | #818 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Boston
Botolph's stone
The English town of Boston takes its name from a boundary or market stone associated with St Botolph, a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon monk. Botolph itself comes from Old English Botwulf, generally read as "messenger wolf" or "herald wolf".
Botwulf → Botolph → Bōtolphes stān → Boston
How it traveled
The name starts as a place: Boston in Lincolnshire, on the tidal river Witham, whose name is understood as the stone of Botolph, a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon monk who founded a monastery in the area. In 1630, English Puritans — many from that part of Lincolnshire — named their new settlement on Massachusetts Bay after it.
Koen
bold counsel
Two roads meet at this spelling. As the Dutch short form of Koenraad (German Konrad, English Conrad), it comes from Germanic kuoni, 'bold, brave', and rad, 'counsel, advice' — that reading is well established. In American use, the same four letters also serve as a respelling of the surname Cohen, from Hebrew kohen, 'priest'. Which one a family means depends entirely on the family.
Chuonrat (Old High German) → Konrad → Conrad → Koenraad (Dutch) → Koen
How it traveled
The Germanic compound behind Konrad — bold plus counsel — was a favorite among medieval German nobility and was carried by German kings and Holy Roman emperors in the Middle Ages. Dutch reshaped it into Koenraad, and Koen broke off as the ordinary spoken form, eventually detaching completely and being registered as a name in its own right.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Boston
BOSS-tun
Stress on the first syllable, which sounds exactly like the word "boss". No r anywhere in it, so the pronunciation holds up in most accents; some speakers say the ending closer to BOSS-tin.
- Bo — The most common short form, and a well-established given name in its own right for boys in the US.
- Bos — Informal, mostly spoken among family and friends rather than written.
- Bossy — A playground or sibling nickname; worth knowing about in advance given its other meaning.
Koen
KOH-en
Most American families say it in two syllables, KOH-en, as with Cohen. The Dutch pronunciation is one syllable, koon, since Dutch 'oe' is an 'oo' sound. Said in American English that single-syllable version lands very close to a racial slur, which is a large part of why the two-syllable reading dominates here. Worth deciding which you want before the birth announcement goes out.
- Koen — Historically the short form of Koenraad, now used as a full legal name in its own right across the Dutch-speaking world.
- Koenie — Dutch diminutive, affectionate and informal; mostly used with small children.
- Ko — A further Dutch clipping, informal and old-fashioned in the Netherlands.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Boston if you want…
- a name holding steadyBoston is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itBoston runs 2 syllables, Koen 1
- a long American recordBoston was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Koen if you want…
- a name on the way upup 567 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesKoen is 1 syllable to Boston's 2
- a newer arrivalKoen entered the US charts in 1996
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Boston
Strengths
- Everyone can already spell it and say it correctly on the first try — a rare thing for a name this uncommon among children.
- Comes with a short form, Bo, that works as a standalone name and needs no explanation.
- The documented line runs back to a seventh-century English monk and a stone in Lincolnshire, so there is real history under a modern-sounding name.
To consider
- It names one particular city, and people will assume a connection — family roots, a college, a team. If there is no link, expect to answer the question often, and cheerfully.
- The city's sports teams are famous enough that the name may pick up jokes or loyalties that have nothing to do with the child, especially outside New England.
- Its use as a first name is very recent, so it currently reads as belonging to children and young adults rather than to any older generation. That may or may not matter to you.
Koen
Strengths
- Short, four letters, and phonetically regular once the pronunciation is agreed — no silent letters and nothing to trim.
- A genuinely old name behind a modern-looking spelling: the Conrad line runs back to medieval Germany.
- Established as a standalone given name in Dutch, so it needs no longer formal version on documents.
To consider
- The spelling will be questioned constantly. Cohen, Coen, Kohen and Conan are all close enough to be guessed, and each has its own pronunciation attached, so expect to correct both letters and sound.
- Because Koen doubles as a respelling of Cohen, some people will hear a Jewish priestly title used as a first name. That use is objectionable to a number of Jewish families, and it is better to know that now than to learn it later.
- In the US this name is worn almost entirely by children, so it currently reads as new here even though it is centuries old in Dutch. That also means very few other boys will share it in a classroom.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Boston
40%chance Boston feels dated by 2040
Boston sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Koen
57%chance Koen feels dated by 2040
Koen is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Boston and Koen in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Boston and Koen?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Boston and Koen — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Boston or Koen — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Boston or Koen?
- Boston, in 2025: Boston ranked #620 with 451 babies; Koen ranked #622 with 448 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Boston or Koen?
- Koen. Over the last five years Boston moved down 26 places; Koen moved up 567 places.
- Which is the older name, Boston or Koen?
- Boston was already in use when US records began in 1880; Koen entered the US charts in 1996. On the American record, Boston is the older name.
- How many people are named Boston and Koen?
- About 10,500 people named Boston are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 5,100 people named Koen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Bostons or Koens in the classroom?
- Boston will almost certainly be the only one in school. Koen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Boston, Koen and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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