Sparky and sweet, the baby name Coco started out as a nickname, but now stands on its own.
Thanks to Nicole for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
COCOA
Let’s start with cocoa, as in the cocoa bean, the source of chocolate, as well as the warm drink.
This gets a little twisty.
In Spanish (and Portuguese) coco means palm tree. In Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs, the word cacaua refers to the bean of the cocoa tree, the source of chocolate. Cacaua became cacao in Spanish, and then, eventually cocoa in English.
It’s possible that a typo in the 1775 edition of Johnson’s Dictionary cemented the change from cacoa to cocoa in English.
In any case, the word cocoa has been with us for centuries.
SOCORRO
As a given name, though, it’s tough to find the first use of the baby name Coco.
At least some of the time, it was used as a diminutive of the female name Socorro.
It means relief in Spanish, from the name María del Socorro – a title for the Virgin Mary.
That makes this a deeply spiritual name – Mary of Perpetual Succour.
Marian names have been used in Spanish for generations.
In the 2017 Disney-Pixar movie Coco, the main character is a young boy called Miguel. Coco refers to his elderly great-grandmother, Socorro Rivera, called Mama Coco.
CHANEL
That’s two possible origins for the baby name Coco, but chances are that no one would be choosing the name for their daughters, if not for Gabrielle Chanel.
Born in a charity hospital, Gabrielle’s family was desperately poor. She spent the latter part of her childhood in an orphanage, where she was trained as a seamstress.
After leaving, she attempted to earn a living as a cabaret singer. There’s a popular story that her nickname comes from a song she used to sign, but Chanel herself said it came from the word coquette – flirt – or possibly from a childhood nickname from her father.
What we do know is that starting with hats, then moving on to perfume, and eventually her own couture house, Chanel’s mark in fashion history is almost impossible to understate.
And yet, it’s tough to reconcile Chanel’s impressive rise from poverty to household name with her personal beliefs. During the Nazi occupation of Paris, she associated freely with German leadership. More recent scholarship revealed that she freely expressed antisemitic opinions.
It makes the name challenging. On the one hand, Coco Chanel established herself as an icon long before her personal beliefs came to light. Stars from Katharine Hepburn to Audrey Tatou have brought her to life on screen, and Keira Knightley is the face of Chanel perfumes. And yet, now that we know them, it’s impossible to look away.
BY the NUMBERS
And yet, the baby name Coco remains very usable.
Why?
Probably because parents slowly embraced the name, beginning in the 1970s.
The name slowly faded. A new generation didn’t automatically think of the French fashion designer Coco Chanel, a woman and business owner. It became a brand.
As a given name, Chanel caught on in the 1960s, reaching the US Top 1000 by 1973. It remains on the charts, with a popularity rank of #833 as of 2021.
Coco, on the other hand, failed to chart until the 1970s. In 1972, five children received the girl’s name Coco for the first time, putting in on the US Social Security Administration’s list.
In 1994, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon named their daughter Coco Hayley.
Then along came the daughter of Courtney Cox and David Arquette. The Friends alum named her daughter Coco Riley, thanks to a childhood nickname Cox earned from her first and last names. That was 2004, when Coco still qualified as an extreme celebrity baby name.
Things were slowly changing. By 2005, 49 girls received the name – a new high.
As of 2021, 94 girls received the name. That’s still far from common, but it’s not nearly as surprising as it once was.
A BOY NAMED COCO
Plenty of male Cocos emerged in the same era, including:
- Late Night talk show host Conan O’Brien used the nickname.
- Major League Baseball’s Covelli “Coco” Crisp played from the early 2000s through 2016.
In the US, it’s not used as a given name for boys – at least, not in big numbers. But elsewhere in the world, Coco can read male.
ROCHA, QUINN, GAUFF
More high-profile Cocos have helped make the name feel more familiar.
Model Coco Rocha was born Mikhaila.
Reality show Dance Moms gave us Coco Quinn.
But the highest profile Coco of them all is probably Cori “Coco” Gauff, a teenage tennis phenom. Gauff has already won singles and doubles titles aplenty, setting records for doing so at a young age.
Combined with the 2017 Disney-Pixar movie, it’s easy to think of Coco as a cozy, culture-spanning choice.
FORMAL NAMES for COCO
It feels like Coco is catching on, but it’s tough to say. A great many Cocos have another name on their birth certificates.
Some possibilities include Colette, Corinne, Cordelia, and names with the initials C.C., to name just a few.
EFFORTLESS COOL
Whether the baby name Coco is used as an affectionate nickname or a formal name, there’s something about it that just says effortless cool.
It fits in with popular girls’ names ending with O, from Willow to Harlow. But it also blends in with casual names for our daughters, like Sadie and Birdie, Sky and Liv.
Even though Gabrielle Chanel is a problematic namesake, Coco has long since evolved beyond any single figure to be a name that marries a sparky, current sound with plenty of enduring style.
What do you think of the baby name Coco?
First published on July 25, 2011, this post was revised and re-published on November 16, 2022.
*Second middle
I’ve seen Coco used as a third middle several times in The Telegraph birth announcements. And I follow an interior design blog called Coco Cozy – a nn of the creator’s given name, Colette. It makes me like the name more than I did before, though I also think of Koko the gorilla, coconut, chocolate, and of course Coco Chanel.
I like Coco but Mimi is deffo my favourite in the Lulu/Gigi/Jojo tribe!
Coco Chanel has long been thought to have been a Nazi sympathizer. True or not, that alone would keep me from considering Coco as a name, or even as a nickname. Extreme perhaps – but the Holocaust raises extreme emotions. — As always, thanks for your great blog. I should be working instead of re-reading this post! 🙂
I am also of the school of thought that Coco is a seriously cute nickname, but not really substantial enough to fly solo. I used to think Coco was way too froufrou / French Poodle, but I’ve definitely found a soft spot for those types of names since then. I too think of Koko the gorilla that had that pet kitten – I remember the photos of her snuggling the tiny kitten… but somehow that is not off-putting. It’s especially appealing as a nickname in an unexpected way (as in a not french or frilly full name) like Caroline or Constance.
Coco is ok as a nickname, but as a given name it belongs on a dog or cat. I actually think it sounds a bit too cutesy on girls, so for that reason I prefer it on the male gender (i.e. Coco O’Brian).
I actually love Coco, but I don’t think I’d use it as a fn. As a middle, or as a nickname for Colette/Cosette/Colleen, I would definitely use it!
Interestingly, I know two elementary-school-aged girls named Coco. I don’t know them well enough to know if it’s a nn for a more formal name, but I do know both go exclusively at school (including in the yearbook) by Coco. I agree it’s cute as a nn, but I’d never use it as a given name, although, Nicole, I think it’s a wonderful way to honor your grandfather as one of the middles.
I always think of a clown when I hear this name. I looked it up and wikipedia says “Coco the Clown, arguably the most famous clown in the UK during the middle decades of the 20th century” so I guess that’s why.
For that reason I don’t really like Coco as a given name – but it would make a cute middle name or a nickname.
Abby – There is a recent independent film too – Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky.