Colin (given name)

Common card · No. 359319

Colin is an English-language masculine given name. It has two distinct origins: A diminutive form of "Colle", itself an Old French short form of the name Nicolas. This name, but not the anglicized Gaelic name, is also found in the spelling Collin. This name is formed by the Old French diminutive suffix -in also found in Robin. An anglicisation of the Irish given name Coileán or the Scottish Gaelic name Cailean, which both come from the Old Irish word cuilén "pup, cub". The Scottish Gaelic name is recorded in the spelling Colin from as early as the 14th century. MacCailean was a patronymic used by Clan Campbell, after Cailean Mór (died 1296). As a surname, Colin can be derived from the given name, but can also be of unrelated (French) origin. The Irish patronymic Ó Coileáin gave rise to the surname Cullen (which is also the anglicization of the unrelated patronymic Ó Cuilinn). In England and Wales, Colin was one of the Top 100 most commonly given male names for most of the 20th century...

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