home > girl names > colleen

Colleen - Origin and Meaning of the name

Meaning of the name Colleen
 
 

 



[ 2 syll. col-lee(n), co-lle-en ] The girl name Colleen is pronounced as KAALIYN KEY. Colleen is largely used in English and its origin is Celtic. Derived from the element 'cailín' with the meaning girl. The name was first adopted by English speakers in the 19th century. During the 1940s when Irish names were popular, it was commonly used by families with Irish roots in Australia, Canada, and the USA; it is not common in Ireland itself. The name has sometimes been taken as the feminine form of Colin despite the difference in origin, and its use has been first promoted by the silent film star Colleen Moore (1900-1988).

Colleen has 15 variants. Variants of Colleen include Cauleyne, Cauline, Coleen, Colena, Colene, Colinda, Coline (used in French as well), Colleene, Collene, Collina, Collyn, and Kolleen. Other English variants include the pet forms Coe, Coel, and Coley. See also the related form, Colin (Scottish and English).

Colleen is uncommon as a baby name for girls. At the modest height of its usage in 1964, 0.232% of baby girls were named Colleen. Its ranking then was #94. The baby name has since markedly dropped in popularity, and is now of very light use. Within all girl names in its group, Colleen was nevertheless the most popular in 2007.

Baby names that sound like Colleen include Cauline (English), Kolleen (English), Calina (English), Cauleyne (English), Clemmie (English), Coleen (English), Colene (English), Colleene (English), Collen (English), Collene (English), Collenn (English), Colyne (French), Kailyn (English), Kalin (Arabic), Kalyn (English), Kayleen (English), Kaylene (English), Kaylin (English), Kaylyn (English), Kaylynn (English), Clem (English), Colena (English), Colina (English), Coline (French and English), Collina (English), Collyn (English), and Calumina (English and Scottish).

KEY: Pronunciation for Colleen: K as in "key (K.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)"


Details of famous persons named Colleen:
Actress Colleen Moore, born Kathleen Morrison, August 19, 1900 - January 25, 1988, Port Huron, Michigan.
Actress Colleen Dewhurst, born June 3, 1924 - August 22, 1991, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Author Colleen McCullough, born 1 June 1937, Wellington, Australia.

Popularity Trend
for Colleen
from 1900 to 2007Variant Popularity Chart
for Colleen
in 2007

Meaning of Colleen Meaning of Coe Meaning of Coel Meaning of Coley Meaning of Collyn Meaning of Colin Meaning of Collina Meaning of Collene Meaning of Colleene Meaning of Coline Meaning of Colinda Meaning of Colene Meaning of Colena Meaning of Coleen Meaning of Cauline Meaning of Cauleyne Meaning of Kolleen Meaning of Colette Meaning of Coel Meaning of Collyn