Colin or Collin?

jyoung01 · October 2013

Which spelling do you prefer?

LouRN09 · October 2013

As an RN, Colin just SCREAMS colon to me. But, thats just me.

mh89 · November 2013

One l.

Kmommy91 · November 2013

I like the look of Collin much more

allardr · November 2013

Dont dislike either, I just acted like I were going to write the name if heard and I would assume 2 L's

capulet · November 2013

I had no idea until TB that anyone spelled it with two Ls. When I was growing up in the '80s, all the boys named Colin I knew spelled it with one L. I think Colin is the original spelling and Collin is more recent (by analogy with the LN Collins, I guess?). I have less of a problem with it looking like "colon" with one L than with it looking misspelled (to me, anyway) with two Ls.

Also, Colin with one L is more popular by rank (123 vs. 196 in 2012). All things being equal (not that they ever are), I think it's easier to go with the more common, familiar spelling of a name.

NerdyLucy · November 2013

LouRN09 said:

As an RN, Colin just SCREAMS colon to me. But, thats just me.

Random fact: I know a man named Colen, and yes, it's pronounced like colon. FWIW, he's in his 70s.

strawberrytree · November 2013

Colin is the original spelling. Collin is a modern variant. It always looks misspelled to me.

If you pronounce Colin as Colon, you're saying it wrong. (No disrespect to Colin Powell. But the way he says it is not a traditionally accepted pronunciation of the name.)

LouRN09 · November 2013

LouRN09 said:

As an RN, Colin just SCREAMS colon to me. But, thats just me.

Random fact: I know a man named Colen, and yes, it's pronounced like colon. FWIW, he's in his 70s.

Wow! Poor fella.
And I do not pronounce Colin and colon the same. But, when I see Colin, my brain automatically wants to say colon. Also, all the Colin/Collin's I know spell it with 2 L's....so the 1 L is just different for me. Probably just a regional thing.