Colin (given name)
Encyclopedia
Colin is a male given name
. Colin is usually pronounced ˈkɒlɨn , although General Colin Powell
chooses to use ˈkoʊlɨn .
Like many given names, it has multiple origins, including:
In the UK and Ireland the name tends to be spelt with one "L", Colin; whereas in the USA it is sometimes spelled with two, Collin. It was never the most popular name in England and Wales, (although it is relatively common,) probably peaking around the 1960s, and has not been in the top 100 boy's names for decades. In Scotland it ranked approximately 200th in 2007, but in Ireland it is more popular, ranking 88th in 2006 . Colin is slowly becoming more popular in the USA, making the top 100 boys' names in each of the three years to 2005, with Collin being slightly less popular. In total, the two spellings accounted for around 1 in 300 boys named in the USA in 2005.
Colin may refer to a number of notable people:
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
. Colin is usually pronounced ˈkɒlɨn , although General Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
chooses to use ˈkoʊlɨn .
Like many given names, it has multiple origins, including:
- an Anglicized form of the GaelicGaelsThe Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
name "Cailean" or "Coileáin", meaning "whelp", "cub", or "young pup"; - a diminutive form of NicolasNicolasNicolas may refer to:* Nicolas * Nicolas , a French chain of wine retailers* Le petit Nicolas, a series of children's books by René Goscinny* Adolfo Nicolás, the current Superior General of the Society of Jesus...
(before the 17th century in England, most nicknames had the diminutive ending "in" or "Kin", where the ending is attached to the first syllable, a few remain such as Robin (Rob-in, from Robert), Hank (Hen-Kin from Henry), Jack (Jan-kin from John), and Colin (Col-in from Nicolas)); - a diminutive form of "Colle", a short French form of NicholasNicholasNicholas or Nikolas is a male given name, derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος , a combination of the words for "victory" and "people" . The name can be understood to mean victory of the people or "power of the people"...
(Greek), meaning "victorious people"; - a development of the Norse name "Koli", meaning "dark", a Middle EnglishMiddle EnglishMiddle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
surname given to those living on property whose ownership was disputed;
In the UK and Ireland the name tends to be spelt with one "L", Colin; whereas in the USA it is sometimes spelled with two, Collin. It was never the most popular name in England and Wales, (although it is relatively common,) probably peaking around the 1960s, and has not been in the top 100 boy's names for decades. In Scotland it ranked approximately 200th in 2007, but in Ireland it is more popular, ranking 88th in 2006 . Colin is slowly becoming more popular in the USA, making the top 100 boys' names in each of the three years to 2005, with Collin being slightly less popular. In total, the two spellings accounted for around 1 in 300 boys named in the USA in 2005.
Colin may refer to a number of notable people:
- Cuilén mac Ildulb (d. 971), King of Scots
- Colin BakerColin BakerColin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
, British actor - Colin BeanColin BeanColin Bean was a British actor best known for his role as Private Sponge in the Second World War sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 to 1977, appearing in76 of Dad’s Army’s 80 episodes....
, British actor - Colin C. Berry, Canadian actor
- Colin BlunstoneColin BlunstoneColin Blunstone is an English pop singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group The Zombies, and for his participation on various albums with The Alan Parsons Project.-Biography:...
, singer from the Zombies - Colin Burgess (musician), Australian Musician
- Sir Colin CampbellCailean MórCailean Mór Caimbeul, also known as Sir Colin Campbell , is one of the earliest attested members of Clan Campbell and an important ancestor figure of the later medieval Earls of Argyll....
(d. 1296), Scottish warrior and progenitor of Clan Campbell - Colin Campbell, 1st Baron ClydeColin Campbell, 1st Baron ClydeField Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde GCB, KSI was a British Army officer from Scotland who led the Highland Brigade in the Crimea and was in command of the ‘Thin red line’ at the battle of Balaclava...
, (1792–1863) Scottish soldier- See Colin Campbell for more people with this name
- Colin Campbell CooperColin Campbell CooperColin Campbell Cooper, Jr. was an American Impressionist painter, perhaps most renowned for his architectural paintings, especially of skyscrapers in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. An avid traveler, he was also known for his paintings of European and Asian landmarks, as well as natural...
, American Impressionist painter - Colin ClarkColin ClarkColin Grant Clark was a British and Australian economist and statistician who worked in both the United Kingdom and Australia. He pioneered the use of the gross national product as the basis for studying national economies.-Biography:Colin Clark was born in London in 1905 and was educated at the...
, British economist - Colin ChapmanColin ChapmanAnthony Colin Bruce Chapman CBE was an influential British designer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars....
, founder of Lotus CarsLotus CarsLotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics... - Colin CoatesColin CoatesColin Victor Coates is a former ice speed skater from Australia, who represented his native country in – a record – six consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1968 in Grenoble, France....
, Australian ice speed skater - Colin CowdreyColin CowdreyMichael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...
, English cricketer - Colin CowherdColin CowherdColin Murray Cowherd is an American sports radio personality. He is currently the host of The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio and ESPNews. He is also the co-host of the television show SportsNation on ESPN2.-Career:...
, American sports radio personality - Colin Creevey, fictional character from the Harry PotterHarry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series - Colin CunninghamColin CunninghamColin Alexander Cunningham is an American television and film actor, now living in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Television:...
, American film and TV actor - Colin Cunningham (swimmer)Colin Cunningham (swimmer)Colin Cunningham is a retired freestyle and backstroke swimmer from Great Britain, who represented his native country at the 1972 Summer Olympics. There he competed in the individual 100 m and 200 m backstroke...
, British swimmer - Colin DelaneyColin DelaneyColin Matthew Delaney is a American professional wrestler, best known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment. He has also wrestled for promotions such as 2CW Squared Circle Wrestling, Chikara, NWA Upstate, Pier 6 Wrestling, Buffalo Championship Wrestling, NWA Empire, LakeShore Wrestling,...
, American professional wrestlerProfessional wrestlingProfessional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport... - Colin EmerleColin EmerleGary Colin Emerle is the bass player for Echo Orbiter. At the age of 16, Colin founded Echo Orbiter with brother Justin Emerle, finding various degrees of indie success in and around Philadelphia.- Biography :...
, American musician - Colin FarrellColin FarrellColin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
, Irish actor - Colin Ferguson (actor)Colin Ferguson (actor)Colin Ferguson is a Canadian actor. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, and is a graduate of Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario and McGill University in Montreal....
, Canadian actor - Colin Ferguson (convict), Jamaican - American mass murderer
- Colin FirthColin FirthSirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
(born 1960), British actor - Colin Fox (actor)Colin Fox (actor)Colin Fox is a Canadian actor. His acting credits include playing Jean Paul Desmond and Jacques Eloi Des Mondes in Strange Paradise , as well as voice work in various animated series, and in other roles in film, television and on the stage...
, Canadian actor - Colin GreenwoodColin GreenwoodColin Charles Greenwood , is an English musician and composer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Radiohead. Apart from bass, Colin plays keyboards, synthesizers and works on sampling on the electronic side of Radiohead...
, bassist for rock band RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992... - Colin GriffithsColin GriffithsColin Griffiths is an English comedian, DJ, VJ and writer. He is most famous for his work as host of the MTV show Up, Up, Down, Down..., the flagship program of MTV Flux which has also aired on TMF UK and MTV UK and Ireland....
, comedian - Colin HanksColin HanksColin Lewes Hanks is an American actor who is best known for his work as Shaun Brumder in the film Orange County and as Alex Whitman in Roswell. He also portrayed the role of Henry Jones in Band of Brothers and is currently on the sixth season of the Showtime crime drama Dexter...
, American actor - Colin HayColin HayColin James Hay is a Scottish-Australian musician, who made his mark during the 1980s as lead vocalist of the Australian band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist.- Early life and Men at Work :...
, Scottish-Australian lead singer of Men at WorkMen at WorkMen at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
) - Colin HendryColin HendryEdward Colin Hendry is a retired Scottish footballer and manager, who played as a defender. Hendry started his career with Dundee in 1983 and spent spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Rangers, Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool...
(born 1965), Scottish footballer - Colin JacksonColin JacksonColin Ray Jackson CBE is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. Over his career representing Great Britain and Wales he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion three times, went undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and...
, Welsh hurdler - Colin Kelly, the first American hero of the Second World War
- Colin MacLaurinColin MaclaurinColin Maclaurin was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. The Maclaurin series, a special case of the Taylor series, are named after him....
, Scottish mathematician - Colin McCombColin McCombColin McComb is an American writer and game designer born in Evanston, Illinois. He is married to musician Robin Moulder. They currently live in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, with their two children...
, American game designer - Colin McAllister, Scottish interior designer and television presenter.
- Colin McGinnColin McGinnColin McGinn is a British philosopher currently working at the University of Miami. McGinn has also held major teaching positions at Oxford University and Rutgers University. He is best known for his work in the philosophy of mind, though he has written on topics across the breadth of modern...
, English philosopher - Colin McRaeColin McRaeColin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
(1968–2007), Scottish rally driver - Colin MeloyColin MeloyColin Patrick Henry Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland, Oregon, folk-rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica, percussion and interpretive hand gestures.-Early life...
, American guitarist and singer in The DecemberistsThe DecemberistsThe Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's... - Colin Mitchell, British author and journalist
- Colin MochrieColin MochrieColin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...
, Scottish Canadian actor/improv comedian - Colin MontgomerieColin MontgomerieColin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31...
, Scottish golfer - Colin MorganColin MorganColin Morgan is an actor from Armagh, Northern Ireland, best known for playing the title character in the BBC TV series Merlin. Morgan went to Integrated College Dungannon and, during his third year, won the 'Denis Rooney Associates' Cup awarded to the best overall student of that academic year...
, Irish actor - Colin MouldingColin MouldingColin Ivor Moulding is a bassist, songwriter and vocalist. He is a founding member of the band XTC. Though less prolific than bandmate Andy Partridge, Moulding wrote many of the group's most popular songs, including their first three UK hit singles: "Life Begins At The Hop", "Making Plans For...
, bassist and singer for band XTCXTCXTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:... - Colin MurrayColin MurrayColin Murray is a Northern Irish sports and music radio and television presenter. He is the current host of the BBC Television show Match of the Day 2 on BBC Two, and the BBC Radio 5 Live shows 5 Live Sport and Fighting Talk, as well as a show on BBC Radio Ulster. He has previously hosted regular...
, British radio DJ and television presenter - Col NeedhamCol NeedhamColin Needham is one of four founding partners of the Internet Movie Database , and has served as General Manager of IMDb since its acquisition by Amazon.com in 1998.-Career:...
, founder of the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million... - Colin Newlin, American actor/model
- Colin PowellColin PowellColin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, former U.S. Secretary of State - Colin PillingerColin PillingerColin Trevor Pillinger, CBE, is a planetary scientist at the Open University in the UK. He was the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and has done much work studying a group of Martian meteorites.In May 2005 Pillinger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.-Early...
, British scientist - Colin QuinnColin QuinnColin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian and writer best known for his five years in the cast of Saturday Night Live, as the sidekick/announcer of MTV's late 1980s gameshow Remote Control and as host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central from 2002–2004.-Early years:Quinn was...
, American comedian - Colin RichardsonColin RichardsonColin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums, and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres such as:*Anathema*As I Lay Dying*Behemoth*Bullet for My Valentine...
, music producer - Colin ReitzColin ReitzColin Reitz is a retired long-distance runner from Great Britain, who represented his native country in the Men's 3,000 metres Steeplechase at the 1984 Summer Olympics. There he finished in fifth place....
, British long-distance runner - Colin Stagg, the man wrongly imprisoned in the Rachel Nickell murder caseRachel Nickell murder caseThe murder of Rachel Jane Nickell took place on 15 July 1992, in Wimbledon Common, London, and resulted in a highly-publicised and controversial investigation....
- Colin TouchinColin TouchinColin Michael Touchin is a conductor, composer and music educator. He was educated at William Hulme's Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford.-External links:*...
, British musician and conductor - Colin TurnbullColin TurnbullColin Macmillan Turnbull was a British-American anthropologist who came to public attention with the popular books The Forest People and The Mountain People , and one of the first anthropologists to work in the field of ethnomusicology.-Early life:Turnbull was born in London and...
, sociologist and author - Colin WardColin WardColin Ward was a British anarchist writer. He has been called "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian." -Life:...
, political writer - Colin WellandColin WellandColin Welland is a British actor and screenwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his script for Chariots of Fire ,,,....
, British actor and screenwriter - Colin WilsonColin WilsonColin Henry Wilson is a prolific English writer who first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist. Wilson has since written widely on true crime, mysticism and other topics. He prefers calling his philosophy new existentialism or phenomenological existentialism.- Early biography:Born and...
, British writer- See Colin WilsonColin Wilson (disambiguation)Colin Wilson is the name of:* Colin Wilson , British writer* Colin Wilson , comic book artist* Colin Wilson , Australian footballer* Colin Wilson , Scottish footballer...
for more people with this name
- See Colin Wilson
- Colin WinterColin WinterColin O'Brien Winter , was an Anglican bishop of Damaraland, a diocese of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa coextensive with the territory of Namibia during the apartheid era.-Early life and career:Born in England in Stoke-on-Trent, Winter was educated at Loughborough College, Oxford...
, bishop