Head to head · Boys' names
Colton vs Eli
#103 vs #104 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Colton is a whisker ahead (#103 vs #104 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. 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, Colton leads 3 measures of 6; Eli leads 2.
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: Colton —, Eli #184 — Eli higher
- 1890s: Colton —, Eli #249 — Eli higher
- 1900s: Colton —, Eli #289 — Eli higher
- 1910s: Colton #3197, Eli #321 — Eli higher
- 1920s: Colton #4028, Eli #375 — Eli higher
- 1930s: Colton #3381, Eli #454 — Eli higher
- 1940s: Colton #3222, Eli #555 — Eli higher
- 1950s: Colton #3138, Eli #630 — Eli higher
- 1960s: Colton #2382, Eli #668 — Eli higher
- 1970s: Colton #1838, Eli #423 — Eli higher
- 1980s: Colton #756, Eli #351 — Eli higher
- 1990s: Colton #120, Eli #312 — Colton higher
- 2000s: Colton #123, Eli #159 — Colton higher
- 2010s: Colton #67, Eli #53 — Eli higher
- 2020s: Colton #88, Eli #78 — Eli higher
Eli stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Eli has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Colton | Eli |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #184 |
| 1890s | — | #249 |
| 1900s | — | #289 |
| 1910s | #3197 | #321 |
| 1920s | #4028 | #375 |
| 1930s | #3381 | #454 |
| 1940s | #3222 | #555 |
| 1950s | #3138 | #630 |
| 1960s | #2382 | #668 |
| 1970s | #1838 | #423 |
| 1980s | #756 | #351 |
| 1990s | #120 | #312 |
| 2000s | #123 | #159 |
| 2010s | #67 | #53 |
| 2020s | #88 | #78 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Colton
Not charting outside the US.
Eli
- Canada#69
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Colton
Old English place name: a settlement whose first element is disputed — most often read as 'Cola's farmstead'
The second element is not in doubt: Old English tūn, a farmstead or settlement. The first is. Place-name scholars read the various English Coltons differently — some from the personal name Cola, some from col, 'coal' or 'charcoal', and at least one from the River Cole. Different villages, genuinely different answers, all folded into one modern spelling.
Cola (Old English personal name) → Coletone / Coltun (English place name) → Colton (English surname) → Colton (given name)
How it traveled
There is no single Colton. The name sits on the map of England in several counties — Norfolk, Staffordshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire — each village named for its own reason and each producing families who took the place as a surname.
Eli
ascent, height — from the Hebrew root meaning 'to go up'
Worth knowing: the Hebrew phrase 'Eli, Eli' in the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion means 'my God', but that is a different Hebrew word that happens to reach English at the same spelling. The name of the priest is the one meaning 'height'.
עֵלִי (ʿEli) → Ἡλί (Hēli) → Heli → Eli
How it traveled
The name comes from the Hebrew Bible, where Eli is the priest at Shiloh who takes in the child Samuel and teaches him to answer when he is called — a story told across the opening chapters of 1 Samuel. It passed into Greek and Latin scripture as Hēli, and reached English through the great wave of Bible translation, then traveled to North America with settlers who preferred Old Testament names to saints' days.
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
Colton
KOHL-tun
Stress on the first syllable. The second is a soft, unstressed 'tun', close to the ending of Weston or Payton — never 'tone'. There is one pronunciation and no real regional disagreement about it.
- Colt — The most-used short form, and a given name in its own right on US records.
- Cole — Drawn from the first syllable; also stands alone as a well-established given name.
- CJ — Informal, built from the initial plus a middle name; common in families with a repeated first name.
- Colty — A family-and-childhood diminutive rather than one that follows a person into adult life.
Eli
EE-lye
That is the standard American pronunciation. In Hebrew, Spanish and Portuguese the same spelling is said closer to eh-LEE, so bilingual families sometimes carry both versions comfortably.
- Eli — Most often used in full — it is already about as short as a name gets, and it also serves as the everyday short form for Elijah, Elias, Elisha, Eliezer and Elliot.
- E — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates rather than family.
- Elias / Elijah — Some families run the other direction, putting a longer biblical name on the birth certificate and using Eli in daily life.
Who has carried each name
Colton
No documented entry for Colton yet.
Eli
Eli Whitney (b. 1765) — Invented the cotton gin
Eli Manning (b. 1981) — Two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Colton if you want…
- a newer arrivalColton entered the US charts in 1913
Choose Eli if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooEli is on the national lists of Canada
- a long American recordEli was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Colton
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for an English-speaking reader; almost never needs to be repeated over the phone.
- Two ready-made short forms, Colt and Cole, both of which also work as full given names on paperwork.
- Shares its rhythm and -ton ending with a whole family of surname-names, so it sits easily beside them in a class list.
To consider
- The spellings Kolton, Coltyn and Colten all circulate, so the occasional 'is that with a C or a K?' is likely even though your spelling is the standard one.
- Colt carries a strong American association with the revolver and with cowboy imagery. That mostly attaches to Colt on its own, but it is worth knowing before you lean on the nickname.
- It reads as contemporary rather than heirloom. Its use as a first name is recent enough that it has no long stretch of grandfathers behind it, which some parents like and some do not.
Eli
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and hard to misspell once heard — three letters that fit on any form, screen or jersey.
- Documented in scripture for millennia and in American records continuously, so it reads as neither invented nor dated.
- Works both as a complete given name and as the natural short form of Elijah, Elias and Elliot, which leaves room to change your mind later.
To consider
- The EE-lye / eh-LEE split is real. Spanish- and Hebrew-speaking relatives may reach for the second one, and you will decide fairly early whether to correct people or let both stand.
- People frequently assume it is short for Elijah and ask for the longer version. If Eli is the whole name, expect that question at doctors' offices and roll calls for years.
- Another Eli in the class is unlikely, but the wider Eli- family — Elijah, Elias, Eliana — is well represented, so the sound will not be unfamiliar to anyone.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Colton and Eli 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
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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 Colton and Eli — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Colton or Eli — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Colton or Eli?
- Colton, in 2025: Colton ranked #103 with 3,420 babies; Eli ranked #104 with 3,418 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Colton or Eli?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Colton moved down 37 places; Eli moved down 44 places.
- Which is the older name, Colton or Eli?
- Colton entered the US charts in 1913; Eli was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Eli is the older name.
- How many people are named Colton and Eli?
- About 150,000 people named Colton are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 143,000 people named Eli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Coltons or Elis in the classroom?
- Colton will almost certainly be the only one in school. Eli will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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