Christy
A feminine name of English origin derived from a Greek word meaning "follower of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 87,974 living Americans carry the first name Christy. It is a predominantly female name (98.1% of registrations). The average person named Christy today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christy births was 1975 (5,192 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christy. 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 Christy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Christy is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,959 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1970s, recent registration numbers for Christy have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
88K
~ 1 in 3,896 Americans
Peak year
1975
5,192 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2020 SSA rank
#3,449
Tracked since 1886
Census
Christy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 91,663 people with the first name Christy, which placed it at #581 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
#581
National first-name rank
People counted
92K
91,663 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
30.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christy is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Christy 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 Christy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.7% · 74,883
- Black or African American5.5% · 5,082
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 4,791
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 3,313
- Two or more races3.1% · 2,861
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 733
Gender
Gender distribution for Christy
Christy leans heavily female at 98.1% of total registrations, but 1,959 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Christy as a male name
- Ranked #10,854 in 2020
- 6 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1922 (45 births)
Christy as a female name
- Ranked #3,449 in 2024
- 45 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (5,168 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christy appears almost entirely female. Of the 91,660 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Christy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christy from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 44,840 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
Christy 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 Christy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Christy, while Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,878 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Christy
The name Christy has its origins in the Greek language and is derived from the word "Christos," which means "anointed one" or "the anointed." This name has a strong connection to Christianity and is often associated with Jesus Christ, who was referred to as the "Anointed One" or the "Christ."
The earliest recorded use of the name Christy dates back to the early Christian era, when it was used as a reference to Jesus Christ or as a name for Christian believers. In medieval times, the name gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Christian traditions.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Christy was Saint Christina the Astonishing, a 13th-century Belgian saint known for her miraculous levitations and other mystical experiences. She was born around 1150 in Brustem, Belgium, and her feast day is celebrated on July 24th.
Another notable figure was Christina of Markyate, an English nun and prioress who lived in the 12th century. She is celebrated for her commitment to religious life and her refusal to marry against her will. Her hagiography, or saint's life, was written by an anonymous monk and provides insights into her remarkable life.
In the 16th century, Christina of Denmark, also known as Christina Munk, was a Danish noblewoman and the wife of King Christian II of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Born in 1521, she played a significant role in the political affairs of her time and was known for her influence and intelligence.
During the 17th century, Christina, Queen of Sweden, was a prominent figure. Born in 1626, she was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Known for her intelligence, she was an influential monarch and patron of the arts. She abdicated the throne in 1654 and converted to Roman Catholicism.
In the 20th century, Christina Rossetti, an English poet born in 1830, gained fame for her religious and romantic poetry. She was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of poets and artists focused on reviving the artistic styles and themes of the late medieval and early Renaissance periods.
These are just a few examples of notable historical figures who bore the name Christy, a name with deep roots in Christianity and a rich cultural heritage spanning centuries.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Christy
People
Christy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christy 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
Christy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87,974 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christy 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 3,896 US residents.
Is Christy a common name?
We classify Christy as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 100,500 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christy most popular?
The single biggest year for Christy was 1975, when 5,192 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christy is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 91,663 people with the name Christy, or 30.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #581 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 Christy 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 Christy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christy appears almost entirely female. Of the 91,660 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Christy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christy is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Christy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Christy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (74,883 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 Christy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christy a female name?
Yes, 98.1% of people registered as Christy in the SSA data are female. 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 Christy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christy 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 Christy 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 Christy?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.