Recorded 1886–2025 · United States
Cole was most popular in 2002, when 6,054 American babies were given the name — ranking #115 that year. In 2025 it ranked #340, with 2,009 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 154,646 people named Cole.
Cole first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1886, which makes it about 139 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 121 of the 140 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 154,646 American births named Cole between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 150,863 are estimated to be alive today.
2,009 American babies were named Cole in 2025, ranking #340 that year.
Cole is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 2,420 births a year, against 3,672 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -34% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Cole is a boy’s name — 0.4% of the 154,646 Americans given it were girls and 99.6% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 150,863 Americans named Cole are alive today — 98% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 21 years old, and half are between 13 and 28.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Old English · "coal", hence "dark"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Cole on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org