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Columbus

Boys' name · Early 20th-century

Living in the US
~2,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
Unranked no births recorded
Births in 2025
0 7,517 since 1880
Typical age
68 years, median

Columbus popularity over time

Columbus rank by birth year, 1880–2023Columbus ranked #192 in 1880 and #12,239 in 2023. Its best rank in the period was #192, in 1880.#1,000#10,000#12,239best #192 in 188018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2023. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Columbus was used most in 1922, when 187 babies were given the name. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. It reaches the top 1,000 in 79 years of the record.

The name last cleared the reporting threshold in 2023.

Babies named Columbus per yearPeaks at 187 births in 1922.187 in 1922018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Columbus?

Roughly 2,000 Columbuss are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 7,517 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Columbus?

Half of living Columbuss are older than 68, half younger. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Columbus a early 20th-century name.

Your Columbus

Ages of living people named ColumbusHalf of living Columbuss are older than 68 and half younger.median 68020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where the name Columbus comes from

From Latin columbus (“a dove”). Doublet of Colombo. The common noun and verb are references to the Italian explorer.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Columbus

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Columbus Short American choreographer 1982 21
Columbus Delano American politician 1809–1896 14
Photo credits (2)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/columbus.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).