Baby name debate: Colin or Collin?

[Slacker]

My wife and I are expecting a young'n soon, and we're having trouble with the name. We've pretty much decided on Colin, but she think it should be Collin, while to me Colin seems like the more "normal" version of the name.

What say the teeming millions? When you hear the name do you assume it's spelled with one L or two? Do you have a preference otherwise? Thanks in advance!

[Hostile Dialect]

One L. The other option will subject your child to Correction Hell for the entirety of his life, and he will hate you. Nobody wants that, least of all your wife!

[Eyebrows 0f Doom]

One L. Two L's looks like the name is missing an S.

[MikeG]

Thirded, Colin.

[Hostile Dialect]

BTW, an easy way to settle your next such dispute is a quick Google search:

colin: almost 80 million hits
collin: 13 million hits

Not even close.

[dangermom]

Colin. Collin looks like a last name missing a letter. Colin looks classy.

[BoBettie]

Colin

[The Controvert]

Please don't name your kid Collin nor Colon.

[Aspidistra]

One L.

However, Hostile Dialect notwithstanding, I'm afraid you're doomed to Correction Hell whatever you do. Calling our daughter Rachel (Google: 98 million hits) versus Rachael (14 million) hasn't stopped the world and their spouse all wanting to sneak that extra little "a" into her name at every possible opportunity (Great-granny still hasn't got it figured after 4 Christmases)

But at least you won't be further contributing to the problem.

[GuanoLad]

Brian

[Hostile Dialect]

Oh, sure, most people are in Correction Hell. The difference is whether you want the 70 million or the 13 million to be wrong. Which one would be more irritating?

[garius]

Colin looks classy.

You have obviously met very few Colins (at least of the British variety) :D

[AngelicGemma]

Colin!

[Czarcasm]

Colin.

[Siege]

Definitely one l. A year ago, I was working in the IT department of a bulk mailer and spent a fair amount of time removing duplicate names from mailing lists. If I'd seen "Colin Smith" and "Collin Smith" at the same address and I had to delete one as a duplicate, I would have deleted the second one.

[Quartz]

One L.

[Richard Pearse]

Col'n.

[Richard Pearse]

Now that's decided, how about Caitlyn or Caitlin?

[Dung Beetle]

I saw Collin for the first time ever the other day (commercial for Jon & Kate Plus 8?) and thought, "Well, at least people will pronounce it right." I remember reading The Secret Garden as a kid and not being sure whether it should be kah-lin or cole-in.

That said, I'd never spell my kid's name wrong just to accommodate other people's ignorance. Colin.

[don't ask]

My ex-wife's name was Karon. People use to correct it for her to Karen even when she had personally filled in forms. It was less amusing when legal documents would arrive with her name "corrected" so that they were no longer valid and we would have to send them back to be redrafted.

So I vote for Collllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllin.

[interface2x]

As a Colin, I vote for one L. As I get older, more and more people are pronouncing it correctly. When I was little, I'd say it was maybe one in five.

To be fair, just the other day, a colleague at work called me "Collin" in an email despite the fact that my correctly spelled name was clearly visible in the "To" line.

[TheLoadedDog]

Kolin.

That'll fuck 'em.

[AskNott]

Colin, one l. However, if you insist on unconventional spelling, the hot trend is to go all out. Kawl'lymn would be about right. :rolleyes:

[Spoons]

Colin. The only "Collin" I've ever heard of is country singer Collin Raye, but I've known plenty of "Colins."

[Mama Zappa]

If baby had been due about 7 weeks ago I'd suggest "Coin".

Since baby was *not* due in December, I'll cast another vote for "Colin".

"Coin" = "Colin" with, "no L". Hah hah, I slay me!

[TupeloHoney]

Colin, for sure.

[the Lady]

I knew a Collin. And his comment regarding his name was as follows:
"yeah, Dad was #$%^& drunk at the hospital, and he's the one who filled out the forms"

[What Exit?]

Find a good tool like First Names on the Census (http://www.genealogytoday.com/names/first/census.html).
This one provides a ranking based on how common the name is.
COLIN # 378
COLLIN # 739

My name is apparently the most common
James #1
My son's is in the 20s, my wife's in the 700s and my daughter's is off the charts.

Another good tool: http://www.namestatistics.com/faq.php but it uses the same stats as the last one.

Jim

[Ceejaytee]

I vote for the classic 1 L Colin.

[Marley23]

I vote for Colin classic.

[Leaffan]

....

To be fair, just the other day, a colleague at work called me "Collin" in an email despite the fact that my correctly spelled name was clearly visible in the "To" line.
Christ, who hasn't done that at work and then embarrassedly noticed it after the fact?


One "L."

[Leaffan]

I knew a Collin. And his comment regarding his name was as follows:
"yeah, Dad was #$%^& drunk at the hospital, and he's the one who filled out the forms"
And that's why my father never had a middle name! (True story.)

[Boozahol Squid, P.I.]

Colin.

But with a rock-umlaut over the 'l'.

[KSO]

Colin.

[sugar and spice]

I have a somewhat conventional name with a bizarre spelling. I actually like it a lot, and I don't mind in the least having to spell it out all the time. It gives me an excuse to be nit-picky and make sure the the other person did, in fact, get my name correct, letter for letter.

But in my case I was named after a girl that my parents knew when they lived abroad, so when people ask why I spell it the way I do, then I actually do have an interesting story to tell them. If I had to explain over and over, "Oh, my mom thought that extra J in there would be cute" I would not be so amused.

So if you wife doesn't have any reason for "COLLIN" other than she likes the letter "L", then I vote for "COLIN" as well.

[Hampshire]

I vote for "Bob".

No one screws that one up.

[Hampshire]

I'm going to buck the trend here and say two Ls. Collin.

IMDB shows way more people named Collin than Colin. here (http://www.imdb.com/find?s=nm&q=collin&x=15&y=11)

[Hostile Dialect]

And most of those are last names or AKAs. AKAs strike me as being either mistakes (on the part of some/all of the people responsible for giving the person credit), translations, or maybe even attempts to make searching easier for the spelling-impaired.

[Sarahfeena]

As a Colin, I vote for one L. As I get older, more and more people are pronouncing it correctly. When I was little, I'd say it was maybe one in five.

To be fair, just the other day, a colleague at work called me "Collin" in an email despite the fact that my correctly spelled name was clearly visible in the "To" line. This kind of thing happens to me all the time, which I don't mind, because I have to (grudgingly) admit that there are two equally legitimate spellings of my name, and I know people write e-mails fast and all that. But, I draw the line at an acquaintance of mine who addressed an e-mail to me spelled the wrong way...despite the fact that it is her name also, and she spells it the same way I do!

I would spell it with one L, just to try to avoid his having to say "Colin with two L's" for the rest of his life, the way I have to say "Sarah with an H" every single time.

[What Exit?]

I'm going to buck the trend here and say two Ls. Collin.

IMDB shows way more people named Collin than Colin. here (http://www.imdb.com/find?s=nm&q=collin&x=15&y=11)
I provided hard census data, why would that be trumped by IMDB data?

On preview I see Hostile Dialect already noted that your search is showing many if not mostly last names.

Jim

[beanpod]

Colin.

[RickJay]

It's spelled "Colin." Why saddle your kid with Correction Hell?

Now that's decided, how about Caitlyn or Caitlin?
Neither. Too trendy.

[Ponch8]

Colin. Might as well spell it correctly.

[Yllaria]

BTW, an easy way to settle your next such dispute is a quick Google search:

colin: almost 80 million hits
collin: 13 million hits

Not even close.So, Slacker, do you think she's likely to accept the results of the Google Fight?

[burundi]

This isn't like Katherine and Catherine, where there are two common ways to spell the name. If you name your kid Collin, for the rest of his life, people are just going to assume that his parents are lousy spellers. One L, please.

[Cluricaun]

Kolin.

That'll fuck 'em.


Kolyn. Double fucked.

[Cluricaun]

Now that's decided, how about Caitlyn or Caitlin?

Cathleen. That's how that damned name is properly pronounced anyway.

[GuanoLad]

Col'n.
Carp'n't'r

[Dangerosa]

This kind of thing happens to me all the time, which I don't mind, because I have to (grudgingly) admit that there are two equally legitimate spellings of my name, and I know people write e-mails fast and all that. But, I draw the line at an acquaintance of mine who addressed an e-mail to me spelled the wrong way...despite the fact that it is her name also, and she spells it the same way I do!

I would spell it with one L, just to try to avoid his having to say "Colin with two L's" for the rest of his life, the way I have to say "Sarah with an H" every single time.


Doesn't help. "Is that Greg with one G or two?" "Two, if it only had one, would it go on the beginning or the end?"

[TheLoadedDog]

Carp'n't'r

That's just whoosed several continents' worth of Dopers. :D

[whiterabbit]

One L. Two Ls looks weird.

Concerning "Rachel," people are always sticking that extra A in somewhere. And even then, they do it wrong!. "Rachael" is a acceptable spelling, even if it's not the one I use. "Racheal" and "Raechel" are not.

"Rachel. With one A," I tell people a lot of the time.

Weird. Seeing my name that many times makes it look really strange suddenly.

[interface2x]

Weird. Seeing my name that many times makes it look really strange suddenly.You think it's weird?? :D

And not only am I named Colin, but my cat is named Rachel. She was named by someone else and it never occurred to me that I should spell it any differently when I took her to the vet for the first time.

[Ephemera]

I am about to have a son and Colin with one L was one of my suggested names.

[Green Bean]

Kolyn. Double fucked.Kollyn. Triple fucked.

[Apollyon]

My wife and I are expecting a young'n soon, and we're having trouble with the name. We've pretty much decided on Colin, but she think it should be Collin...Boy or girl?

I kid, I kid... :D

[Cluricaun]

Kollyn. Triple fucked.

Kollyne. Gang banged.

[Ponder Stibbons]

Colin Powell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell)
Colin Mochrie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Mochrie)

Debate closed. :)

[Max Torque]

Kollyn. Triple fucked.
Qallyn. QUADfucked.

[Jackmannii]

Gotta name the kid Collin. Great name, brings to mind the Collin Street Bakery (http://www.collinstreet.com), home of the "World-Famous DeLuxe Fruitcake".

Once the kids at school find out about that, it's lights out...

[frog princess]

One L.

However, Hostile Dialect notwithstanding, I'm afraid you're doomed to Correction Hell whatever you do. Calling our daughter Rachel (Google: 98 million hits) versus Rachael (14 million) hasn't stopped the world and their spouse all wanting to sneak that extra little "a" into her name at every possible opportunity (Great-granny still hasn't got it figured after 4 Christmases)

But at least you won't be further contributing to the problem.

My daughter has that extra little "a" in her name and the school still spelled it wrong on her 8th grade promotion certificate. I'm afraid you can't win, one "l" or two, you'll be correcting people forever.

[Sarahfeena]

Doesn't help. "Is that Greg with one G or two?" "Two, if it only had one, would it go on the beginning or the end?" I don't get it...where else would an "L" go in Colin? Or am I missing something? :confused:

[Slacker]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Glad to see almost universal support for spelling it the right way. ;)

I don't get it...where else would an "L" go in Colin? Or am I missing something? :confused:
I think he's joking about how while Collin can say his name is "Collin with two Ls," people mistakenly refer to Gregg as "Gregg with two Gs" when it's actually "Gregg with three Gs." Greg with two Gs is Greg. If it were Greg with one G it would either have to be Gre or Reg. ;)

[TheLoadedDog]

I think he's joking about how while Collin can say his name is "Collin with two Ls," people mistakenly refer to Gregg as "Gregg with two Gs" when it's actually "Gregg with three Gs." Greg with two Gs is Greg. If it were Greg with one G it would either have to be Gre or Reg. ;)

For the same reason, I was going to ask the lady named Rachel above if her "that's Rachel with one 'a'" ever gets a wrong spelling as a result. It's an old quiz show trick. On Sale of the Century (or whatever it's called these days) where they have a "Fast Money" segment with questons that are slightly easier but delivered rapid-fire, one clossic old standby is something like, "How many Ts are there in the word tatter?" They often catch out folks who will answer "two", being preoccupied with "is it a single or a double consonant?" and forgetting the first letter of the word is also a T. Actually, the words used are usually longer, with more real estate between the letters concerned, but I can't think of an example off-hand.

[Siam Sam]

I don't recall ever seeing Collin as a first name. It's always Colin, with one L. Collins is a common surname, but I predict giving the kid two Ls in his first name will result in a lifetine of his having constantly to correct people when they try to spell it, so much so that he'll probably end up snapping one day and becoming a mass murderer.

[Green Bean]

One of the best Peanuts strips ever had Charlie Brown writing to his "pencil pal." He asks someone whether the word "goggles" has one G or two. The other person says "two." So he spells it "ggogles." :D (though, yeah, it really has three)

I couldn't find that strip online. Darn.
And it occurs to me that ggogles would be a great username.

[Elendil's Heir]

I don't recall ever seeing Collin as a first name. It's always Colin, with one L. Collins is a common surname, but I predict giving the kid two Ls in his first name will result in a lifetine of his having constantly to correct people when they try to spell it, so much so that he'll probably end up snapping one day and becoming a mass murderer.

That's just what I was thinking. But you could always name him Throatwobbler Mangrove.

[Celyn]

One "L", definitely, although I DO like that nifty suggestion in the post just above. :D

[Sarahfeena]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Glad to see almost universal support for spelling it the right way. ;)


I think he's joking about how while Collin can say his name is "Collin with two Ls," people mistakenly refer to Gregg as "Gregg with two Gs" when it's actually "Gregg with three Gs." Greg with two Gs is Greg. If it were Greg with one G it would either have to be Gre or Reg. ;) I think I'm still missing something, though...I get the joke about Greg(g), what I didn't get was how that principle applies to the name Colin. I said to name him Colin with one L, so he wouldn't always have to say "Colin with 2 Ls" (the assumption on my part being that most people will spell it with one L by default). Dangerosa said it won't help, and cites the one G/two G Greg thing as an example. But, there is no other place for an L to go in Colin, other than in the middle, next to the first L. That's why I didn't understand it or am not getting the connection.

Silly hijack, but I'm confused! :)

[Patty O'Furniture]

I vote for "Bob".

No one screws that one up.

Do you spell that with one "o" or two? :D

If I saw Collin, I'd use the rule of thumb where vowels are pronounced long or short based on whether or not there is a single or double consonant following.

Example: Dinner / Diner

I'd be tempted to pronounce Colin like "Stolen". I claim the handicap of never having known any Colins or Collins.

[Siam Sam]

I once had a roommate named Rick who thought it would be cool to spell it Ric. He finally gave up in frustration. Oddball name spellings are for the birds.

[TheLoadedDog]

I once had a roommate named Rick who thought it would be cool to spell it Ric. He finally gave up in frustration. Oddball name spellings are for the birds.

That tends to be more common if the full name is Riccardo. At least, that's what I assume when I see "Ric". One of my best friends has that name, and I've seen it plenty of times elsewhere.

[Siam Sam]

That tends to be more common if the full name is Riccardo. At least, that's what I assume when I see "Ric". One of my best friends has that name, and I've seen it plenty of times elsewhere.
I'm talking Bumfuck, Texas. Ric was definitely unheard of.

Some famous examples of oddball spellings I can think of include Mathew Brady and Johns Hopkins. Could just be the parents were poor spellers.

[whiterabbit]

For the same reason, I was going to ask the lady named Rachel above if her "that's Rachel with one 'a'" ever gets a wrong spelling as a result.

No, usually it turns out right if I say that. Sometimes I just spell it if I see them writing or typing it. The funny thing is that of other Rachels I've met, only one or two of them have spelled it Rachael. You'd think mine would be the default spelling in most people's minds.

That being said, at work if I have the slightest doubt about how to spell a name (hotel reservations) I ask them. I've gotten a few oddball spellings thrown my way and I don't want to assume. Sometimes the default spelling isn't right. But I promise if I get somebody with my name I will ask her which way she spells it and get it right!

[Alan Smithee]

Wait, other people spell "Gregg" with three G's? I thought my boss was just weird!

[Slacker]

Thanks again for all the responses, though we're still no closer to an agreement here. ;)

While we're on the subject, what do you all think of the name Collier? Pronounced call-yer I guess. That one looks weird to write, but it's kinda cool. Or is it? :dubious:

[Eliahna]

Thanks again for all the responses, though we're still no closer to an agreement here. ;)

While we're on the subject, what do you all think of the name Collier? Pronounced call-yer I guess. That one looks weird to write, but it's kinda cool. Or is it? :dubious:
Kinda cool for a surname, perhaps. As a given name? Not so much. Not a fan of that trend.

Colin with one L would be far better.

[Siege]

Why would you want to name your son "coal carrier" or "barge"? (See the definitions here on Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/collier).) :confused: I'm sorry. I'm a bit traditional when it comes to names, and that one strikes me as truly awful. Then again, where I live, coal miner is a profession and I do see barges carrying coal on our rivers all the time. Admittedly, they may not technically be colliers.

Slacker, I understand if your wife is trying to be creative or different, but trust me. I grew up creative and different, and it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Do you have any idea why your wife doesn't want a more ordinary name?

[Siam Sam]

Thanks again for all the responses, though we're still no closer to an agreement here. ;)

While we're on the subject, what do you all think of the name Collier? Pronounced call-yer I guess. That one looks weird to write, but it's kinda cool. Or is it? :dubious:
I think it's a surname. Might I suggest Churchill, Baker or Schwarzenegger as an alternative?

[Knorf]

Qcawllynne

[Lisa-go-Blind]

The only Collin I've known was a girl. A one-L Colin will join the illustrious ranks of Colins Powell, Firth and Farrell.

[Martian Bigfoot]

One L.

However, on the subject of correcting people's spelling, I don't really get why people don't just accept that a name is not an absolutely fixed quantity and that you will find your name spelled in slightly different ways by different people at different times. It'll still be the same name, for all intents and purposes, even if an "a" is missing or in a different places or if it's one "l" or two or whatever. Cripes.

Then again, I do have a first name that comes in a slightly different variety in every European language, not to mention about five varieties in my native language, and I've gotten into the habit of just defaulting to the local variation when I'm travelling, and letting people get it wrong all they damn well please when I'm at home. Sometimes I change it myself just for the heck of it. I find a name to be a rather blurry thing. If I had a kid named Colin, I would probably spell it "Colin" or "Collin" on alternating weeks.

[RickJay]

Thanks again for all the responses, though we're still no closer to an agreement here. ;)

While we're on the subject, what do you all think of the name Collier? Pronounced call-yer I guess. That one looks weird to write, but it's kinda cool. Or is it? :dubious:
It's the absolute antithesis of cool. You couldn't give your kid a LESS cool name. Giving children last names as first names is going to seem extremely dated as time goes on; in 2050, it'll sound like a name only an old person of a certain generation would ever have. It'll be just like "Ethel" or "Mabel" are today.

Give your son a REAL name, not one that's made up or a last name converted into a lame, trend-following first name. Believe me, he'll be glad you did. It doesn't have to be common; "Colin" isn't too common. Here are some other really nice names that aren't silly which rank below 75th place in the U.S. baby name popularity chart (2006 data):

Timothy (94th)
Richard (99th)
Jeremy (124th, I am shocked it's this low)
Kenneth (128th)
Marcus (112th) or Mark (129th)
George (153rd)

Just in case anyone was wondering, #1 for boys was Jacob, #1 for girls was Emily, with the similar Emma being 2nd, probably due to "Friends." The highest-ranked ridiculous names, IMHO, were for boys Jackson (36th) and for girls Madison (3rd.) Girl names seem much more prone to changes of fashion, and are heavily influenced by characters in pop culture.

The Canadian lists, I note, are slightly different but follow the same trends. Todaysparent.com ranks names in groupings, which is a bit more telling (so it ranks all absurd variations of Madison, like Maddison or Madysyn, as a single name) and is clearly informed by Canada's different ethnic makeup; more French, way less Spanish. In Canada the #1s are Emma, with Emily being second; Matthew is the #1 boys name, including French variants. The highest ranked stupid names are, for girls, Madison/Madysin/etc., at 5th, and for boys I'll go with "Caden," which apparently is spelled eighteen different ways, at 52nd.

[burundi]

While we're on the subject, what do you all think of the name Collier? Pronounced call-yer I guess. That one looks weird to write, but it's kinda cool. Or is it? :dubious:
Sorry, but I hate it. It screams "pretentious yupster" to me.

[Slacker]

Sorry, but I hate it. It screams "pretentious yupster" to me.
The more I think about it the more it says that to me too. Thanks for the comments, all. :)

Now, back to working on "Colin" with the wife. ;)

[Unintentionally Blank]

MY son seems to like Collin thusfar...course, he's 5, so it's not like he's had to deal with the horrar of gradeschool yet.

[Jackmannii]

A one-L Colin will join the illustrious ranks of Colins Powell, Firth and Farrell.And Colin Pitchfork (http://www.answers.com/topic/colin-pitchfork?cat=health).

[Richard Pearse]

One L.

However, on the subject of correcting people's spelling, I don't really get why people don't just accept that a name is not an absolutely fixed quantity and that you will find your name spelled in slightly different ways by different people at different times. It'll still be the same name, for all intents and purposes, even if an "a" is missing or in a different places or if it's one "l" or two or whatever. Cripes.

My name is Jonathan, not Jonathon, Johnathon, Johnathen, John, etc. In fact the names John and Jonathan are not related, John is not short for Jonathan although Jon is!

I don't particularly care if someone spells my name incorrectly when they have no guidance. But when someone continues to misspell my name despite having the correct spelling infront of them (e.g., in the signature of an email) then, to me, that indicates they don't care enough about me to be bothered trying to get the name right.

I have found that I must correct the spelling otherwise I risk effectively having the spelling changed. As an example, when I first joined the company I work at, my name was spelled incorrectly by some HR clerk. I didn't bother correcting it. Eventually, I got fed up with every single person in the company spelling it wrong, and I talked to HR about having it corrected. By then it was quite an exercise as the name had to be corrected through multiple company departments. Since then I've decided it is best for everyone if they're corrected immediately.

[Katriona]

Christ, who hasn't done that at work and then embarrassedly noticed it after the fact?


One "L."

A typo is one thing, but I had a co-worker who would misspell it muliple times in the same email!

Example:
To Line: (LastName),Wendy (correct spelling)

Body of Message, replied to all: Everyone, I asked Wendie to do (ABC).

Windy, would you let us all know when (ABC) is done?

Thanks, Wendi!

And I vote for the classic one L version.

[NightRabbit]

What's so difficult about asking how someone spells their name? I never understand why people would rather guess (in the HR example, among others) than spend 5 seconds of their lives confirming. since I have an odd spelling to my name, I always make sure I'm spelling (and pronouncing!) everyone's names correctly, although I admit I rolled my eyes at Krystal, etc. But some names have several valid spellings! Alisa Alyssa Alissa Elisa etc. Can't count how many teachers would misspell my name when I've been handing in papers all day with the correct name spelling on the top... :rolleyes:

Edit: forgot to say my peace about the names! I'd think one L would be standard. Does your wife have an unusual name and feel married to it as her idea of her own uniqueness? As for colin-esque names, Kevin is pretty close and it's hard to spell that one wrong. No one names babies Cy anymore. Cyrus? Or Cecil! :D

[Siam Sam]

Maybe Cecill?

[Richard Pearse]

What's so difficult about asking how someone spells their name? I never understand why people would rather guess (in the HR example, among others) than spend 5 seconds of their lives confirming.

I suspect people think they know how to spell a name when they don't. If they don't realise they don't know the spelling, they won't ask. Case in point, my surname is genuinely unusual, most people ask how to spell it and consequently it gets spelled correctly. On the other hand, they think they know how to spell Jonathan, don't ask or check, and then get it wrong.

[What Exit?]

I suspect people think they know how to spell a name when they don't. If they don't realise they don't know the spelling, they won't ask. Case in point, my surname is genuinely unusual, most people ask how to spell it and consequently it gets spelled correctly. On the other hand, they think they know how to spell Jonathan, don't ask or check, and then get it wrong.
Strange, my surname is very unusual and Italian. It does not spell close to how it sounds. Despite this, my name gets mangled in 8 or 9 different ways, quite often, even when I spell it for them. I think people often hear what they expect to hear and not what is being said.

Jim

[gigi]

Without checking any other answers, it should be Colin. It's the name I would use for a boy, and it's the spelling I would assume most people would use when they hear it.

[Zebra]

Ccoolliinn

[Autolycus]

I think his name should be Colin, and your grandson should be Collin, and the great-grandson Colllin, and so on so forth.

[Unintentionally Blank]

Without checking any other answers, it should be Colin. It's the name I would use for a boy, and it's the spelling I would assume most people would use when they hear it.
I'm glad you're an authority. :) How do you prefer to spell Shaniqua?