‘Colt’ Rapidly Becoming One Of Nation’s Most Popular Baby Names

By Rebecca Fontenot in Blog on May 11, 2010 at 2:37 pm | 1 Comment

Coming soon to a child near you: a sporty, tough, and thoroughly Texan moniker.

Because just as quarterback Colt McCoy has left Texas to join the NFL, his name has gone national too. 

“Colt” finished last year as the 370th most popular baby boy name in America, CNBC reports. That’s up an astonishing 539 slots since McCoy played his way onto the national sports scene. In 2006, when he was a redshirted freshman here at UT, his name was the 909th most popular.

The funny thing is, Colt isn’t his real name — it’s Daniel. Colt is actually his middle name.

The new generation of parents is putting Colt, which traditionally meant young horse, right up front.

Having had friends name their child Colter last year, I can personally vouch for the name’s popularity.

Little Colt’s welcome-to-the-world gift was easy to pick out. I hit the Co-op, a cradle-to-grave outfitter if ever there was one. I think they’ve got complete newborn Longhorn sets for the delivery room — I bet I could’ve gotten a burnt-orange umbilical cord snipper if I’d wanted one. But I proceeded to the tiny T-shirt section, where going down the kiddie racks took me a good 30 minutes.

Just the right wardrobe statement needed to be made for the kid with the cool name. “If you name your kid after the Texas quarterback, you’ve gotta expect some burnt-orange baby gear,” I told his parents — even though they’re Yankees marooned up in Illinois.

If this naming trend keeps up, more folks around the country may find themselves in the same position. Especially in, say, Cleveland.