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Colleen

Quick answerColleen derives from the Irish word "cailín," meaning "girl" or "young woman," with the suffix "-een" being a diminutive form common in Irish.

Irish · Girl · 2 syllables

C
Top 5,000

Popularity & facts

Relative popularity index, 2010–2025
GenderGirl
US Rank#2,829
TrendStable
Peak year1964
Syllables2
OriginIrish
LanguageEnglish
CultureEnglish
Letters7
Numerology3 Chaldean 4
Global rank#391

Popularity over time

Popularity index
Hover the line to see any year. 100 = most popular.

Historical popularity from 1880–2025 · US Social Security Administration data

About the name Colleen

Colleen derives from the Irish word "cailín," meaning "girl" or "young woman," with the suffix "-een" being a diminutive form common in Irish.

Cross-referenced with Wikidata/Wikipedia. AI-assisted, community-reviewable. Suggest an improvement.

Etymology

Colleen derives from the Irish word "cailín," meaning "girl" or "young woman," with the suffix "-een" being a diminutive form common in Irish. The name essentially means "little girl" or "young lady" and has Irish Gaelic linguistic roots.

The name is primarily used in Irish and Irish-American communities, with widespread adoption in English-speaking countries during the 20th century; it has no specific religious association but became particularly popular among Catholic Irish immigrants and their descendants.

Colleen currently ranks #2,829 in the United States as a girl's name. It reached its peak popularity around 1964.

Variants & nicknames

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