Colin
A Celtic name that means "young hound". In Poland it stays rare and strictly a boy's name, and after a peak in the 2010s the yearly count keeps slipping.
Colin Pronunciation
Colin is pronounced TSO-leen (/ˈt͡sɔlin/).
What Colin means
Where Colin comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Colin grows from a Celtic root, the old word for a young hound or cub. Scottish Gaelic kept it as Cailean, and the Campbell chiefs long bore the style MacCailean Mór, son of the great whelp. The literal sense stays close to the animal. Young cub, young hound.
The Celtic origin is one thing, the cultural home is another. Colin took root in England, where by the medieval period it read as an everyday name. Edmund Spenser gave the shepherd of his poetry the name Colin Clout, and the label clung to English pastoral verse for generations after.
A Polish child called Colin today would meet the name mostly on an official form at the urząd, an import rather than a name-day fixture. It has no Polish diminutives of its own and no imieniny to mark. What the name keeps is the Gaelic whelp, Cailean, and a meaning that has never strayed far: young hound.
How many people are named Colin
1 in 25656 men in Poland is named Colin. 836 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1034 among male names.
Colin's popularity over time
13 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #628 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2002.
Where parents choose Colin
Colin is most popular in Lower Silesian, 240% above the national average (25 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Opole (+132%) and Silesian (+107%). It is least common in Łódź and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 66% and 61% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian
+240%1 in 6,285 babies
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Opole
+132%1 in 9,219 babies
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Silesian
+107%1 in 10,345 babies
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Łódź
−66%1 in 63,359 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−61%1 in 54,690 babies
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Lublin
−58%1 in 51,338 babies
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Lower Silesian+240% 25 born1 in 6,285 babies+240%
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Opole+132% 5 born1 in 9,219 babies+132%
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Silesian+107% 22 born1 in 10,345 babies+107%
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Greater Poland+89% 19 born1 in 11,329 babies+89%
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Masovian−21% 13 born1 in 27,251 babies−21%
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Pomeranian−42% 4 born1 in 36,830 babies−42%
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West Pomeranian−49% 2 born1 in 42,213 babies−49%
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Lesser Poland−53% 5 born1 in 45,383 babies−53%
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Lublin−58% 2 born1 in 51,338 babies−58%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−61% 2 born1 in 54,690 babies−61%
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Łódź−66% 2 born1 in 63,359 babies−66%
Colin as a middle name
Colin is a first name for 836 men in Poland and a middle name for another 151, an 85/15 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 567th, between Symeon (152) and Gaweł (151).
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#565 Onufry152
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#566 Symeon152
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#567 Colin151
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#568 Gaweł151
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#569 Sylwiusz151