Christofer
One bearing or representing Christ.
Name Census estimates that about 3,692 living Americans carry the first name Christofer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Christofer today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christofer births was 2007 (136 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christofer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Christofer with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 92,837 Americans
Peak year
2007
136 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,698
Tracked since 1951
Census
Christofer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,208 people with the first name Christofer, which placed it at #5,368 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,368
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christofer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christofer is White at 44.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (44.0%) and Black (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Christofer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Christofer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.6% · 1,431
- Hispanic or Latino44.0% · 1,412
- Black or African American5.7% · 182
- Two or more races3.6% · 116
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 16
Popularity
Christofer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christofer from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,008 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Christofer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Christofer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christofers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Christofer, while Oregon, Oklahoma, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Christofer
The name Christofer is derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (Christophoros), which means "bearing Christ" or "Christ-bearer". This name originated in the early Christian era and was initially used to refer to Saint Christopher, a legendary martyr venerated in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
In the 3rd century AD, a popular legend emerged about a man named Reprobus, who aided a child across a river and later discovered that the child was the Christ child, hence earning him the name Christophoros. This story became widely circulated and Saint Christopher was revered as the patron saint of travelers and transporters.
The name Christofer was first popularized in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions with strong Christian traditions, such as England, France, and Germany. Early spellings included Cristoferus, Cristoforus, and Cristofre.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Christofer can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landowners in England compiled in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. The name appeared as "Cristofre" and was likely given to individuals with connections to the veneration of Saint Christopher.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Christofer. For example, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer renowned for his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, which led to the European colonization of the Americas. Another famous Christofer was Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), an English playwright, poet, and translator who significantly influenced the development of Elizabethan theatre.
Other historical figures with the name Christofer include Christopher Wren (1632-1723), the English architect responsible for designing numerous famous buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Christopher Plantin (1520-1589) was a renowned Renaissance printer and typographer from France who established one of the most prolific printing presses in Antwerp, Belgium.
Lastly, Christopher Polhem (1661-1751) was a Swedish scientist, inventor, and industrialist who made significant contributions to the development of mechanical engineering and is considered one of the founders of the Swedish engineering tradition.
People
Christofer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christofer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Christofer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christofer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,692 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christofer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 92,837 US residents.
Is Christofer a common name?
We classify Christofer as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,834 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christofer most popular?
The single biggest year for Christofer was 2007, when 136 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christofer is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christofer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,208 people with the name Christofer, or 1.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,368 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Christofer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Christofer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christofer appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,213 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Christofer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christofer is White at 44.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (44.0%) and Black (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Christofer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Christofer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.6% (1,431 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Christofer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christofer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Christofer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Christofer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christofer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Christofer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Christofer?
See how many people have the name Christofer on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.