Kirsten
A feminine Scandinavian name derived from the word "Christen", meaning Christian or follower of Christ.
Name Census estimates that about 49,793 living Americans carry the first name Kirsten. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kirsten today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kirsten births was 1991 (1,938 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kirsten. 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 Kirsten with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kirsten is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 212 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Kirsten have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
50K
~ 1 in 6,884 Americans
Peak year
1991
1,938 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2004 SSA rank
#3,134
Tracked since 1937
Census
Kirsten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 50,530 people with the first name Kirsten, which placed it at #895 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
#895
National first-name rank
People counted
51K
50,530 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
16.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirsten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirsten is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Kirsten 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 Kirsten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.3% · 42,105
- Black or African American5.8% · 2,940
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 2,173
- Two or more races3.8% · 1,941
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 1,088
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 283
Gender
Gender distribution for Kirsten
Out of the 53,331 babies given the name Kirsten since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kirsten as a male name
- Ranked #6,358 in 2004
- 12 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1978 (13 births)
Kirsten as a female name
- Ranked #3,134 in 2024
- 51 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (1,931 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kirsten appears almost entirely female. Of the 50,529 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kirsten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kirsten from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 16,919 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kirsten 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 Kirsten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kirstens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Kirsten, while Wyoming, Vermont, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 984 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kirsten
The name Kirsten is of Danish origin, derived from the ancient Norse name Kristin, which means "a Christian" or "follower of Christ." The name was popular in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, particularly in Denmark and Norway.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kirsten dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in Danish historical records. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Kirsten Svendsdatter, a Danish noblewoman who lived in the 13th century.
In the 16th century, the name gained popularity in Germany, where it was spelled as "Kirsten" or "Kersten." One notable bearer of the name from this period was Kirsten Munk, a Danish noblewoman who was the mother of King Christian IV of Denmark.
During the Protestant Reformation, the name Kirsten became associated with the Lutheran faith, as many Lutherans chose to give their children names with Christian meanings. This further contributed to the name's popularity in Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kirsten. Some examples include Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962), a renowned Norwegian opera singer; Kirsten Dunst (born 1982), an American actress known for her roles in films like "Spider-Man" and "Interview with the Vampire"; and Kirsten Gillibrand (born 1966), an American politician and former United States Senator from New York.
Other famous Kirstens include Kirsten Olesen (1913-1989), a Danish athlete and Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics, and Kirsten Haglund (born 1992), an American figure skater and Olympian.
While the name Kirsten has its roots in Danish and Scandinavian culture, it has become popular in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kirsten
People
Kirsten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kirsten as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kirsten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kirsten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 49,793 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kirsten 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 6,884 US residents.
Is Kirsten a common name?
We classify Kirsten as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 53,331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kirsten most popular?
The single biggest year for Kirsten was 1991, when 1,938 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kirsten is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kirsten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 50,530 people with the name Kirsten, or 16.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #895 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 Kirsten 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 Kirsten?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kirsten appears almost entirely female. Of the 50,529 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Kirsten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kirsten is White at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Kirsten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kirsten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (42,105 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 Kirsten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kirsten a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Kirsten 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 Kirsten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kirsten 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 Kirsten 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 have Kirsten as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.