Baby Name of the Day: Coco

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.

WHAT DOES THE NAME COCO MEAN?

Let’s start with cocoa, as in the cocoa bean, the source of chocolate, as well as the warm, wintry, whipped-cream-and-marshmallow-spiked drink.

In Spanish and Portuguese, coco means palm tree. 

But wait, there’s more. Coco can also refer to a skull or a face. Coconuts got their name because of the way the three depressions resemble . El Cucuy – or El Coco is one name for a ghost-monster in Spanish folklore, a bogeyman who spirits away misbehaving children under the cover of night. 

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, and so has coco – even though they have completely separate origins.

SOCORRO NICKNAME

As a given name, 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 Succor in English.

Marian names have been used by the faithful for generations, and a number are particularly common in Spanish. Consuelo, Dolores, and Soledad are even more familiar. 

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.

There’s a double meaning, though – after all, much of Coco takes place while the characters are in the afterlife, transformed into Day of the Dead-style sugar skulls. 

COCO CHANEL

There’s a French origin for the baby name Coco, too: designer 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 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. More recently, actresses like Margot Robbie and Lupita N’yongo have served as brand ambassadors. 

The good news? Plenty of other associations take the baby name Coco in new directions.

FAMOUS COCOS

A number of famous women have answered to the name in recent years:

• Model Coco Rocha was born Mikhaila.
• Reality show Dance Moms gave us Coco Quinn.
• In the animated category: Coco Pommel is a character from the My Little Pony universe.
• Grammy-winning singer Coco Jones – born Courtney – recently performed “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” at the 2026 Super Bowl.

The highest profile Coco of them all right now? 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.

IS COCO GENDER NEUTRAL?

As a nickname, Coco is sometimes masculine, too: 

• 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.

HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME COCO?

In the year 1972, the baby name Coco debuted in US popularity data, with five births.

It wasn’t new, of course. Socorro, as well as names like Cordelia, Constance, and Colette, could shorten to Coco. Or it might’ve been an affectionate nickname like Honey. 

But as early as the 1950s, parents were naming their daughters Chanel. That’s before revelations about the designer’s behavior during the war, at a moment when the name suggested luxury and French style. It entered the US Top 1000 in 1973. 

Coco followed, in smaller numbers.

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. In 2005, 49 girls received the name – a new high.

The name peaked in the year 2020, with 105 births. As of 2024, just 76 girls were named Coco.

EFFORTLESS COOL

Whether as a nickname or a formal name, Coco blends sweetness with a hint of cool. 

It fits in with popular girls’ names ending with O, from Willow to Margot to Cleo. But it also blends in with casual names for our daughters, like Sadie and Birdie, Joy and Tru.

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.

This might be the perfect name for parents seeking a familiar choice that remains distinctive and different. 

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 and February 19, 2026.