Coraline
Coraline was the 683rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 414 babies. Its best year was 2015, when it ranked 579th with 527 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 104 places. More babies were named Coraline in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning coral (elaboration of Coralie) · French, Latin
Say it KOR-uh-line /ˈkɔrəlaɪn/
- Rank in 2025
- #683 girls, down 36 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 414girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2015527 babies
- Total since 1880
- 6,786babies recorded
What does the name Coraline mean?
Coraline is an elaborate form of Coralie, according to Wiktionary, and was the name of a character in Adolphe Adam's opera Le toréador. Coralie was coined in France at the end of the 18th century from Latin corallium, coral. English coral comes from the same Latin word, by way of Old French, as the American Heritage Dictionary notes, and Latin took it from Greek korallion. US records show Coraline from 1970.
corallium (Latin, “coral”)
How sure is this? Probable. Wiktionary only for the coinage history.
Related names: Coralie, Cora, Coral, Caroline.
See also: Latin names, names that mean jewel.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Coraline' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Coralie' (French section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'coral' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Coraline
The usual nicknames for Coraline are Cora. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Coraline in the last five years, 684 were named Cora.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cora | Modern | #113 | 13,843 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Coralines go by each one.
Coraline popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #683 | 414 |
| 2020 | #647 | 448 |
| 2010 | #1,044 | 239 |
| 2000 | — | — |
| 1990 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — |
| 1970 | #7,223 | 6 |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Coraline, counting every spelling?
Coraline is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #566 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #683 for Coraline on its own. Together these spellings went to 530 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coraline | 414 | #683 | 2,023 |
| Coralynn | 35 | #4,089 | 198 |
| Koraline | 47 | #3,324 | 193 |
| Coralyn | 14 | #7,575 | 124 |
| Koralynn | 8 | #11,458 | 91 |
| Koralyn | 7 | #12,583 | 58 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Coraline?
414 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Coraline (0.11 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Coraline born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 20 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Coraline.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Coraline?
About 6,700 people born in the US named Coraline are alive today, with a median age of 8; half are between 5 and 12. That makes Coraline a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Coraline by state
How common Coraline was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in West Virginia (3.2×), Kansas (3.1×), Oregon (3.0×), Oklahoma (2.3×), Ohio (2.3×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, Maryland, New York.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Coraline: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Coraline, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Coraline · Sibling names for Coraline
Questions about the name Coraline
What does Coraline mean?
Coraline means “coral (elaboration of Coralie)” (French, Latin origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Coraline?
Coraline was the 683rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 414 babies. Its best year was 2015, when it ranked 579th with 527 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 104 places. More babies were named Coraline in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Coraline a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Coraline in the US.
Where is Coraline most popular?
In 2021–2025, Coraline was most common in West Virginia (0.80 per 1,000 girls), followed by Kansas and Oregon.