Names/C

Cole

boys’ nameSteadyCompare

Cole is ranked 162nd among boys in 2024 (2,219 births). Its best rank was 69th, in 2002–2003.

Rank in 2024
#162down 7 from 2023
Births in 2024
2,2190.13% of boys
Peak year
20026,038 births
Best rank
#69first in 2002
Since 1886
152,069people given the name
Babies named Cole, by year of birthboys
02.5k5k7.5k10k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

152,069 boys have been named Cole in the United States since 1886, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2002, with 6,038 births — 0.31% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 115 → 162).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2005, and the 2000s alone account for 37%. It has spent 73 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 15 of them in the top 100.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Cole
1880s6
1890s5
1900s16
1910s190
1920s156
1930s127
1940s224
1950s562
1960s703
1970s1,443
1980s8,722
1990s33,866
2000s56,845
2010s36,395
2020s12,809

In 2002, its biggest year

Cole was the 69th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2002 were Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew and Ethan. See all of 2002.

Names that rose and fell with Cole

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.