Head to head · Boys' names
Clayton vs Colson
#300 vs #310 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Clayton is a whisker ahead (#300 vs #310 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Clayton leads 5 measures of 6; Colson 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: Clayton #196, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1890s: Clayton #193, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1900s: Clayton #182, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1910s: Clayton #165, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1920s: Clayton #161, Colson #4347 — Clayton higher
- 1930s: Clayton #185, Colson #3645 — Clayton higher
- 1940s: Clayton #219, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1950s: Clayton #235, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1960s: Clayton #249, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1970s: Clayton #211, Colson — — Clayton higher
- 1980s: Clayton #162, Colson #5827 — Clayton higher
- 1990s: Clayton #156, Colson #3591 — Clayton higher
- 2000s: Clayton #207, Colson #1537 — Clayton higher
- 2010s: Clayton #259, Colson #988 — Clayton higher
- 2020s: Clayton #297, Colson #333 — Clayton higher
Clayton stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Clayton | Colson |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #196 | — |
| 1890s | #193 | — |
| 1900s | #182 | — |
| 1910s | #165 | — |
| 1920s | #161 | #4347 |
| 1930s | #185 | #3645 |
| 1940s | #219 | — |
| 1950s | #235 | — |
| 1960s | #249 | — |
| 1970s | #211 | — |
| 1980s | #162 | #5827 |
| 1990s | #156 | #3591 |
| 2000s | #207 | #1537 |
| 2010s | #259 | #988 |
| 2020s | #297 | #333 |
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
Clayton
Farmstead on clay soil
From Old English clæg, 'clay', and tun, 'farmstead'.
clæg tun → Clayton
How it traveled
The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, named for Representative Henry De Lamar Clayton of Alabama, declared that 'the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce', a line labor unions hailed as their charter. Clayton Moore played the Lone Ranger on television through the 1950s and kept appearing in the mask for decades; in 1979 the owners of the character went to court to stop him, and he toured in dark wraparound sunglasses until they dropped the case and he won the right to wear it again.
Colson
"son of Col" — Col being a medieval short form of Nicholas
Two readings compete, and both are respectable. In one, Col is the clipped English pet form of Nicholas (the same root that gives Nicol and Nicholson), so Colson means "son of Nicholas." In the other, it stands on Cole, from Old English Cola, connected to col, "coal" — a byname for someone dark-haired or dark-complexioned. The surname record supports both lines, and medieval clerks were not in the habit of telling them apart.
Nicholas → Nicol → Col / Cole → Colson
How it traveled
Colson is an English patronymic surname, and its -son ending points to the north and east of England, where that way of forming family names took hold most firmly in the Middle Ages. It traveled to America as a family name, sitting on deeds and census pages for generations before anyone thought to put it on a birth certificate — and it appears in the given-name records from the 1920s onward, thinly at first.
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
Clayton
KLAY-tun
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
- Clay — The usual short form; also a given name on its own.
Colson
KOHL-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. The o is long, as in coal. No real regional disagreement about it.
- Cole — The obvious everyday short form, and a fully established given name in its own right in the US — worth knowing that a Colson may simply be called Cole for life.
- Col — Informal and mostly spoken within the family; the medieval form the surname was built from in the first place.
- Colt — Heard informally among friends and teammates, though it is a separate given name elsewhere.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Clayton if you want…
- a name most people already know#300 in 2025, 1,130 babies that year
- a name holding steadyClayton is holding its place on the charts
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Clayton (Clay)
- a long American recordClayton was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Colson if you want…
- a name fewer children share#310 in 2025 — colson will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 41 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options3 recorded short forms — Cole, Col and Colt
- a newer arrivalColson entered the US charts in 1924
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
Clayton
Strengths
- Instantly recognized and easy to spell.
- Comes with Clay as a ready short form.
- A long, steady American history.
To consider
- As a surname-first name it may be taken for a last name on forms.
- It is familiar enough that a Clayton may share the name with a classmate.
- For a girl it would be very unusual.
Colson
Strengths
- Spells and sounds itself: a reader who knows Cole and knows -son gets it right on the first try.
- Carries a ready-made short form in Cole, which already stands on its own as an American given name.
- Documented as an English surname since the Middle Ages, so the name has a long paper trail behind its recent use as a first name.
To consider
- It lives in a crowded sound-neighborhood — Cole, Colton, Coleson, Carson, Colson. Expect a certain amount of gentle correction, and expect Coulson and Coleson to turn up on paperwork.
- Because it reads as a surname first, it will occasionally be taken for a last name on forms and in roll calls where names are listed surname-first.
- The wave of Colsons is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying the name right now is a child rather than an adult. That means few models for how it wears at fifty — and no accumulated associations to shake off either.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Clayton
25%chance Clayton feels dated by 2040
Clayton peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Colson
40%chance Colson feels dated by 2040
Colson 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.
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 Clayton and Colson 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 Clayton and Colson?
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 these names appear on
- The steadiest names in America
- Seven-letter names, ranked by real use
- Names ending in -ton
- Under the radar: quietly excellent picks
- all guides
Where Clayton and Colson each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Clayton or Colson — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Clayton or Colson?
- Clayton, in 2025: Clayton ranked #300 with 1,130 babies; Colson ranked #310 with 1,099 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Clayton or Colson?
- Colson. Over the last five years Clayton moved down 11 places; Colson moved up 41 places.
- Which is the older name, Clayton or Colson?
- Clayton was already in use when US records began in 1880; Colson entered the US charts in 1924. On the American record, Clayton is the older name.
- How many people are named Clayton and Colson?
- About 105,000 people named Clayton are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,600 people named Colson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Claytons or Colsons in the classroom?
- Clayton will almost certainly be the only one in school. Colson 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 Clayton, Colson and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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