# Baby name debate: Colin or Collin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558 "2008-02-14T04:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/1 "2008-02-14T04:07:58Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/2 "2008-02-14T04:08:51Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/3 "2008-02-14T04:10:12Z")
One L. Two L’s looks like the name is missing an S. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/4 "2008-02-14T04:10:40Z")
Thirded, Colin. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/5 "2008-02-14T04:11:49Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/6 "2008-02-14T04:19:05Z")
Colin. Collin looks like a last name missing a letter. Colin looks classy. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/7 "2008-02-14T04:55:59Z")
Colin ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/8 "2008-02-14T04:59:28Z")
Please don’t name your kid Collin nor Colon. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/9 "2008-02-14T05:11:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/10 "2008-02-14T05:13:51Z")
Brian ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/11 "2008-02-14T05:25:03Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/12 "2008-02-14T11:15:31Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] Colin looks classy. [/QUOTE] You have obviously met very few Colins (at least of the British variety) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/13 "2008-02-14T11:52:03Z")
Colin! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/14 "2008-02-14T12:15:14Z")
Colin. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/15 "2008-02-14T12:20:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/16 "2008-02-14T12:25:47Z")
One L. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/17 "2008-02-14T12:31:18Z")
Col’n. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/18 "2008-02-14T12:32:21Z")
Now that’s decided, how about Caitlyn or Caitlin? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/19 "2008-02-14T13:07:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558/20 "2008-02-14T13:31:08Z")
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 Colllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllin. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-name-debate-colin-or-collin/437558.md?page=2)