Head to head · Boys' names
Gregory vs Kolton
#593 vs #594 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Gregory is a whisker ahead (#593 vs #594 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, Gregory leads 5 measures of 6; Kolton leads 0.
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: Gregory #895, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1890s: Gregory #680, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1900s: Gregory #604, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1910s: Gregory #479, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1920s: Gregory #405, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1930s: Gregory #288, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1940s: Gregory #110, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1950s: Gregory #24, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1960s: Gregory #23, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1970s: Gregory #32, Kolton — — Gregory higher
- 1980s: Gregory #45, Kolton #3834 — Gregory higher
- 1990s: Gregory #82, Kolton #736 — Gregory higher
- 2000s: Gregory #196, Kolton #584 — Gregory higher
- 2010s: Gregory #332, Kolton #419 — Gregory higher
- 2020s: Gregory #513, Kolton #517 — Gregory higher
Gregory stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gregory | Kolton |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #895 | — |
| 1890s | #680 | — |
| 1900s | #604 | — |
| 1910s | #479 | — |
| 1920s | #405 | — |
| 1930s | #288 | — |
| 1940s | #110 | — |
| 1950s | #24 | — |
| 1960s | #23 | — |
| 1970s | #32 | — |
| 1980s | #45 | #3834 |
| 1990s | #82 | #736 |
| 2000s | #196 | #584 |
| 2010s | #332 | #419 |
| 2020s | #513 | #517 |
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
Gregory
watchful
The Greek verb means to be awake or alert, and the name was a Christian one from the start — a instruction rather than a description, taken from the injunction to stay awake.
Gregorios → Gregorius → Gregory
How it traveled
Gregory the Great sent Augustine and a party of monks to England at the end of the sixth century, gave them detailed and unusually practical instructions about not destroying the local temples but reusing them, and corresponded with them at length afterwards. The mission worked.
Kolton
from the English place name Colton: either 'Cola's settlement' or 'coal town'
Both readings trace to Old English. The second element is agreed: tūn, a farmstead or settlement. The first is either the Old English byname Cola, or the word col, 'coal' or 'charcoal' — so a settlement belonging to a man called Cola, or one where charcoal was burned. Different Coltons on the English map probably got their names by different routes, which is why the question stays open.
Cola (Old English byname) → Colton (English place name) → Colton (surname) → Colton (given name) → Kolton
How it traveled
The name began as English geography. Several villages called Colton — the spelling shifts about in early records — gave their names to the families who came from them, in the ordinary medieval way, and Colton became a surname carried through the centuries in England and then in North America.
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
Gregory
GREG-ur-ee
Three syllables with the weight at the front. Italian and Spanish give it four with the stress on the third.
- Greg — The standard short form; used in speech far more than the full name.
- Gregg — The doubled spelling of the same short form; a standing name of its own.
- Grisha — The Russian everyday form, used in Russian-speaking families.
Kolton
KOHL-tun
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling gives the sound away immediately — the K makes no difference to how it is said, only to how it is written.
- Kolt — The most-used short form; also stands alone as a given name in its C-spelling, Colt.
- Kol — Informal, family-level shortening; usually spoken rather than written.
- K — Initial-only nickname common among school friends and teammates.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Gregory if you want…
- a name with more sound in itGregory runs 3 syllables, Kolton 2
- a long American recordGregory was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Kolton if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesKolton is 2 syllables to Gregory's 3
- a newer arrivalKolton entered the US charts in 1982
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
Gregory
Strengths
- It has a form in every European language, eastern and western alike.
- Greg is one of the most established short forms in English.
- The meaning is short, positive and easy to explain.
To consider
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the twentieth century in America.
- Gregory and Gregorio will both be offered in bilingual settings.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
Kolton
Strengths
- Reads correctly on first sight: nobody has to guess how KOHL-tun is pronounced.
- Sits inside a well-established family of -ton surname names, so it sounds familiar even to people meeting it for the first time.
- Has a ready-made short form in Kolt, which is itself a name in independent use.
To consider
- The default spelling is Colton. A Kolton will spell his name aloud for most of his life — on forms, at coffee counters, over the phone. Some people take that in stride; it is worth knowing it comes with the K.
- Both the K-respelling and the -ton ending belong to a recognizable recent wave of American naming, so the name tends to signal roughly when its bearer was born.
- It is noticeably more common in some parts of the country than others, which means the experience of the name can differ a good deal between, say, Texas and New England.
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 Gregory and Kolton 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 Gregory and Kolton?
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
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Baby Boomer names (born 1946–1964)
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- all guides
Where Gregory and Kolton each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gregory or Kolton — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gregory or Kolton?
- Gregory, in 2025: Gregory ranked #593 with 493 babies; Kolton ranked #594 with 489 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gregory or Kolton?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Gregory moved down 159 places; Kolton moved down 152 places.
- Which is the older name, Gregory or Kolton?
- Gregory was already in use when US records began in 1880; Kolton entered the US charts in 1982. On the American record, Gregory is the older name.
- How many people are named Gregory and Kolton?
- About 586,000 people named Gregory are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,000 people named Kolton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gregorys or Koltons in the classroom?
- Gregory will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kolton 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
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