Cole - Meaning of Cole

What does Cole mean?

Pronounce
Cole

[ 1 syll. co-le, col-e ] The baby boy name Cole is sometimes used as a girl name. It is pronounced as KowL- †. Cole is an English name of Old English, Old Greek, and Latin origin. Old English origin: The first name is of obscure origin; it could have been derived from the surname Cole, which could itself be from the nicknames Cola (Old English) and Koli (Old Norse) of the Old English 'kol' (meaning coal, black) in reference to one with swarthy features. The surname could also be from the first name Nicholas or other surnames such as Colby and Colman. The name is known from the Old King Cole in the nursery rhyme, who is based on the 3rd-century King Cole of Colchester in Essex. In recent times, the name has often been bestowed in honor of the American songwriter Cole Porter (1891-1964).

Cole is a variant of the name Colby (English).

Cole is also a variant (English) of the name Colin (English, Scottish, and French).

Cole is also a short form (English) of the name Colman (English and Irish).

Cole is also a variant of the name Colter (English).

Cole is also a variant of the name Colton (English).

Cole is also a short form (English) of the name Nicholas (English and French).

Cole has 19 variants. Variants include Coal, Coale, Col, Colea, Colee, Coleigh, Colet, Coli, Colie, Colsan, Colsen, Colsin, Colson, Colsun, Colsyn, Coly, Kohl, and Kole. The diminutive form Coley is another English variant.

See also the related categories, swarthy (dark), king, english, latin, honor, greek, obscure, nicholas, and american.

Cole is popular as a baby name for boys. The name's popularity rose from the 1960s up to the 2000s. Its usage peaked modestly in 2002 with 0.293% of baby boys being given the name Cole. It ranked at #69 then. The baby name has since fallen in popularity. In 2018, its usage was 0.172% and its ranking #118, but it was nonetheless the 3rd most popular after Colton and Nicholas, among all boy names in its group. In 2018, Colton was used 59% more than Cole. Cole has in the past century been mostly given to baby boys.

Baby names that sound like Cole include Coal, Coale, Coel, Coll, Kohl, Kole, Cael, Cail, Caile, Cal, Cale, Calle, Cayl, Cayle, Cayll, Clai, Clay, Claye, Cli, and Cloi.

† Pronunciation for Cole: K as in "key (K.IY)" ; OW as in "oak (OW.K)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)"

Details of famous persons named Cole:
Actor Cole Sprouse, born 4 August 1992, Tuscany, Italy.
Composer Cole Porter, born Cole Albert Porter, June 9, 1891 - October 15, 1964, Peru, Indiana.