Christophor
Derived from Greek, meaning "bearer of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 495 living Americans carry the first name Christophor. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Christophor today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christophor births was 1971 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christophor. 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.
People living today
495
~ 1 in 692,433 Americans
Peak year
1971
35 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2003 SSA rank
#7,977
Tracked since 1951
Census
Christophor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 285 people with the first name Christophor, which placed it at #30,528 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
#30,528
National first-name rank
People counted
285
285 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christophor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christophor is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Christophor 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 Christophor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.9% · 182
- Black or African American13.3% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 38
- Two or more races5.3% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 5
Popularity
Christophor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christophor from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 220 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Christophor 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 Christophor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christophors live
Origin
Meaning and history of Christophor
The name Christophor is a masculine given name with Greek origins, derived from the combination of the words "Christos" meaning "Christ" and "pherein" meaning "to bear" or "to carry." It is a variant spelling of the more common name Christopher.
This name first emerged during the early Christian era, around the 3rd century AD, and was initially adopted by believers who wished to express their devotion to Christ. The earliest recorded use of the name is found in the writings of the Church Fathers, particularly in the works of St. Jerome and St. Augustine.
One of the most famous historical figures bearing this name was Christophor Columbus, the Italian explorer and navigator who is credited with the European discovery of the Americas in 1492. His given name, Cristoforo in Italian, was the Italian variant of Christophor.
Another notable figure was Christophor Plantin, a renowned 16th-century printer and typographer from Antwerp, who established one of the most significant printing presses of the Renaissance period. He was born in 1520 and died in 1589.
In the 17th century, Christophor Wren, an English architect and mathematician, left an indelible mark on the cityscape of London. He was responsible for designing numerous iconic buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral, after the Great Fire of London in 1666. Wren lived from 1632 to 1723.
During the 18th century, Christophor Willibald Gluck, a German composer, made significant contributions to the operatic genre. He is considered one of the pioneers of the reform movement in opera, which sought to prioritize drama over complex musical arrangements. Gluck lived from 1714 to 1787.
In the realm of literature, Christophor Marlowe, an English playwright and poet of the Elizabethan era, is renowned for his contributions to the English Renaissance theater. His most famous works include "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" and "The Jew of Malta." Marlowe lived from 1564 to 1593.
People
Christophor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christophor 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
Christophor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christophor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 495 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christophor 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 692,433 US residents.
Is Christophor a common name?
We classify Christophor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 537 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christophor most popular?
The single biggest year for Christophor was 1971, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christophor is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christophor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 285 people with the name Christophor, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,528 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 Christophor 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 Christophor?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christophor appears almost entirely male. Of the 292 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Christophor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christophor is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) and Hispanic (13.3%). 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 Christophor most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Christophor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.9% (182 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 Christophor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christophor a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Christophor 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 Christophor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christophor 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 Christophor 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 Americans are named Christophor?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Christophor on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.