Cole
Feminine · “charcoal”
Cole is given to boys far more often — 154,093 boys against 553 girls since 1880. See Cole as a boy name
Old King Cole was a merry old soul, and he may also have been real. A ruler called Coel is remembered in the genealogies of the British kingdoms of the north, in the century after Rome left, and the nursery rhyme has been attached to him for a very long time. Whether the two are the same man cannot be shown, but the name is older than the rhyme by a wide margin.
How old is the name Cole?
Cole first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Cole alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 500 people named Cole are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cole most popular?
Cole peaked in 2006, reaching #4463 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 8,745 places below that high. See the whole 2006 chart.
Where it comes from
From Cola to Cole
The story of Cole
Cola was in use as a personal name in England before the Conquest and became one of the commonest sources of surnames in the country — Cole, Coles, Colson and Colman all come out of it. The surname moved to the front of the name in America in the nineteenth century and stayed quiet for a hundred years before rising sharply at the end of the twentieth, which is the usual pattern for a short, hard-edged English surname. It also charts in Scotland, which is unusual for an American revival and suggests the appeal is in the sound rather than in any particular bearer.
Meaningscholars disagree
charcoal; dark-haired
The English surname comes from the Old English byname Cola, built on col, the word for charcoal, and given to someone with dark hair or a dark complexion. There is a second and entirely separate road: Cole is also an old short form of Nicholas, by way of the medieval Coll. Most American Coles descend from the surname, but both are real.
How the name formed
- Cola
- Cole
Related forms: Coleman · Coel
Pronouncing Cole
KOHL
One syllable, rhyming with goal. Nothing about the spelling causes anyone the slightest difficulty, in any English-speaking country.
Nicknames for Cole
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 200632 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4463reached in 2006
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%6 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Cole in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Coleman in English — related form
- Coel in Welsh — related form
Coles among us
people named Cole are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Cole
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cole
- #13208
- Cole on the 2025 chart
- #928
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cole went to 6 girls in 2025, but Khole and Kole are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 32, which makes it the 928th most-given girls’ name of the year — 12,280 places above the chart.
- Khole21
- Cole6
- Kole5
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 267,878 for Cole itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Silvie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cole's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Silvie climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Silvie's path sketches the road Cole is walking now.
Cole 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Cole beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cole in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and four letters — it fits any form and sits well before almost any surname.
- Nobody has ever had to spell it twice or hear it wrong.
- It is a genuine English name with a documented pre-Conquest history.
- There is nothing to shorten, which some families find restful.
- It has been very well used in the last twenty-five years, so a boy will meet others of his age.
- It is identical to a word for cabbage in several older English contexts, and to a common surname, so introductions carry a small pause.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy; the record's girls are few enough that no form will expect one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Cole
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Coles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Cole are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cole?
- Cole is one of 3 recorded spellings. Khole is the more common one — 21 births in 2025 against 6 for Cole.
- How popular is the name Cole in 2025?
- Cole ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cole?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Cole — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cole with classmates?
- Cole will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cole
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sarra#13208 · Arrianna#13208 · Marry#13208 · Briyanna#13208 · Alexsandra#13208 · Fionna#13208 · Nadiah#13208 · Daniele#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cole? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cole and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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