Columbo
Columbo is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie.
Meaning & Origin of Columbo
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Columbo is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Columbo
The earliest SSA record of Columbo as a baby boy name dates back to 1916, when 5 babies received it. 1916 was its biggest year on record, with 5 newborns named Columbo — #3,898 in the national rankings. Columbo last appeared in the published SSA data in 1916, with 5 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 5 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Columbo
Phonetically similar names — useful when Columbo is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Columbo
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About the name Columbo
Columbo is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1916 and has accumulated 5 births in the dataset. Columbo's peak popularity came in 1916 when it ranked #3,898. Use the chart and map above to compare Columbo's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1916 →
- Names of the 1910s →
- Names starting with "C" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.