How Many People Are Named Colonel?
An estimated 306 people in the United States have the first name Colonel. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 74 years old, and Colonel peaked in popularity in 1920 with 37 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Colonel as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Colonel paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- With an average bearer age of 74, Colonel is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1962.
Estimated Living Americans
306
About 1 in 1,120,112 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
74
years old
Peak Year
1920
37 births
Total Registered
1,250
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Colonel
Colonel is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 1,250 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Colonel as a male name
Ranked #6,241 in 1987
6 male births in 1987
Peak: 1920 (37 births)
Colonel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Colonel span from the 1880s to the 1980s, covering 11 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 274 babies were registered. Colonel has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Colonel by Decade
How has Colonel tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Colonel by State
Birth registrations for Colonel span all 4 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in North Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky. The lowest are in Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama. On average, about 19 Colonels were registered per state.
Colonel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Colonel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Colonel
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Colonel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colonel?
We estimate approximately 306 people named Colonel are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,120,112 Americans share this first name.
Is Colonel a common name?
Colonel is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 79.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,250 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Colonel most popular?
Colonel reached peak popularity in 1920, when 37 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Colonel is approximately 74 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Colonel a male name?
Colonel is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Colonel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Colonel Smith, Colonel Johnson, Colonel Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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