Given name & surname

Cooper

“one who makes barrels”

Cooper is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “one who makes barrels.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One English interpretation is “one who makes barrels.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is English.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1882. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Cooper through the years

Babies since 1880
126,484
123,702 boys · 2,782 girls
Most popular year
2025
7,653 babies
2025
7,653
#27 for boys · #1,244 for girls
2021–25 vs 2016–20
+25%
Rising
Boys Girls
02,0004,0006,0001900192019401960198020002025Highest share 2025Boys 4,375Girls 113
Cooper in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1882–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

Where it’s given

Most at home inVermont, North Dakota, Montana
FewerMore, relative to births Not published
2025 births by state of birth. Tiles are equal-sized so small states stay visible. Highest rates: Vermont (26), North Dakota (40), Montana (41), West Virginia (68), Delaware (30).

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 7,472 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 27 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 24.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 181 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (569). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 88,776 as a first name in 2020; 271,453 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Cooper’s family of names

In English usage, Cooper has a diminutive in Coop. In English usage, Cooper as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with KUIPER. Cooper has a related form in Coopar.

Walk Cooper’s family in the name graph

CooperKooperCouperCooparCoopCowperCoopersmithCupereCoopurCooporCoopyrCoopirKuiper

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 10

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Show 2 moreShow fewer

Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 1

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Appears in

Similar names

If you love Cooper, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

English · Modern

Colter

“a horse herdsman”

75CommonRising fast

>99% boys

English · Surname-style

Carter

“a transporter of merchandise” · “one who transports goods; one who drives a cart”

87Very commonEasing

93% boys · 7% girls

English

Baker

“one who bakes”

72CommonRising fast

91% boys · 9% girls

English · Surname-style

Walker

“walker of the forests” · “one who trods the cloth”

82CommonRising fast

97% boys · 3% girls

Gaelic · Nature

Rowan

“of the red-berry tree”

87Very commonRising

74% boys · 26% girls

English

Colt

“a young horse; from the coal town”

67FamiliarSteady

>99% boys

English · Nature

Wesley

“from the western meadow”

85Very commonRising

98% boys · 2% girls

English · Modern

Caspian

“from the sea”

60FamiliarRising fast

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Cooper’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Cooper

A sister for Cooper