Colin
A surname that can come from the medieval pet form of Nicholas, and in some cases from Gaelic personal-name traditions.
The #4,270 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,118 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English records, Colin is often a shortened or familiar form of Nicholas, passed through medieval French usage. The same name also appears in Gaelic contexts as a personal name, especially in Scottish and Irish family traditions. The literal sense is not a surname meaning in itself so much as a descendant or bearer of a given name that was already in use.
History
Bardsley notes that Colin was once a familiar nickname for Nicholas in England, though he also remarks that it could have arrived at times from the Low Countries. In Scotland and Ireland, Colin was an important personal name among Gaelic and Anglo-Scottish families, including the Campbells, where it appears in clan tradition as Colin the Great. Because the surname can arise from either English nickname use or Gaelic personal-name use, its family histories are not always the same.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley grouped Colin with medieval nickname forms like Robin for Robert and Phippin for Philip—showing how playful diminutives could become surnames.
From the historical record
“Muggins or Hutchins represents a once familiar term for Hugh, Perrin for Peter, Marion for Mary, Robin or Dobbin for Robert, Colin for Nicholas, Phippin for Philip, Gibbin or Gibbon for Gilbert. This class is also a lai^e one. An excrescent g was frequently appended to the surname ; cf. Jennings (John), Tippings…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances