Colleen

Where Colleen comes from

From the word colleen, from Irish cailín (“girl”), not used as a name in Ireland. Colleen can also be interpreted as a variant of Coleen, which was a product of marketing by the Hollywood film industry (to promote a new starlet in the 1920s).
— Wiktionary's entry for Colleen
  • English
  • Irish
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1901
    First appearance
    #1,466 among girls, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1937
    Colleen McCullough born
    Australian author
  3. 1965
    Peak, #93
    4,028 babies named Colleen — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1977
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #145.
  5. 1979
    Colleen Hoover born
    American author
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from English or Irish.
Namesakes
  • Colleen McCullough · Australian author, 1937–2015
  • Colleen Hoover · American author, born 1979
  • Colleen Dewhurst · Canadian-American actress, 1924–1991
  • Colleen Moore · American actress, 1899–1988
  • Colleen Ballinger · American comedian, singer, actress, writer and media personality, born 1986

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.