Kristian
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "follower of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 26,540 living Americans carry the first name Kristian. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Kristian today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kristian births was 1996 (886 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kristian. 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 Kristian with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
27K
~ 1 in 12,915 Americans
Peak year
1996
886 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,124
Tracked since 1942
Census
Kristian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 22,651 people with the first name Kristian, which placed it at #1,485 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
#1,485
National first-name rank
People counted
23K
22,651 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kristian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristian is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.3%) and Black (18.8%). 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 Kristian 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 Kristian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.5% · 10,981
- Hispanic or Latino23.3% · 5,275
- Black or African American18.8% · 4,255
- Two or more races5.0% · 1,140
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 842
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 158
Gender
Gender distribution for Kristian
Kristian is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 27,439 total registrations, 20,627 (75.2%) were male and 6,812 (24.8%) were female.
Kristian as a male name
- Ranked #1,124 in 2024
- 189 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (614 births)
Kristian as a female name
- Ranked #6,507 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (357 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kristian on both sides of the split. Of the 22,646 people counted with this name, 16,969 were male (74.9%) and 5,677 were female (25.1%).
Popularity
Kristian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kristian from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 7,850 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
Kristian 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 Kristian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kristians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kristian, while New Hampshire, Montana, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 500 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kristian
The given name Kristian is derived from the ancient Greek word "Christianos", which means "follower of Christ". This name has its origins in the early Christian era, when it was first used to refer to the followers of Jesus Christ. The name is believed to have first been used in the 1st century AD, shortly after the death of Jesus.
The name Kristian is a variant spelling of the more common Christian, which is the English form of the name. It was first used in the Germanic languages and later spread to other European countries. The earliest recorded use of the name Kristian can be traced back to the 8th century AD in Scandinavia.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Kristian was Kristian I, who was the King of Denmark from 1448 to 1481. He was also known as Christian I and was the founder of the Oldenburg dynasty, which ruled Denmark and Norway for several centuries.
Another notable historical figure with the name Kristian was Kristian IV, who was the King of Denmark and Norway from 1588 to 1648. He is often referred to as the "Renaissance King" due to his contributions to the arts and sciences during his reign.
In the world of literature, one of the most famous people with the name Kristian was Kristian Elster, a Norwegian poet and novelist who lived from 1841 to 1881. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern Norwegian literary tradition.
In the field of music, Kristian Matsson, better known by his stage name Kristian Kristiansen, is a Swedish singer-songwriter who has been active since the early 2000s. He is known for his folk and indie rock style of music.
Another notable figure with the name Kristian was Kristian Birkeland, a Norwegian scientist who lived from 1867 to 1917. He is best known for his work in the field of atmospheric physics and his research on the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights.
People
Kristian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kristian 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
Kristian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kristian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,540 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kristian 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 12,915 US residents.
Is Kristian a common name?
We classify Kristian as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,439 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kristian most popular?
The single biggest year for Kristian was 1996, when 886 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kristian is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kristian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 22,651 people with the name Kristian, or 7.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,485 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 Kristian 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 Kristian?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kristian on both sides of the split. Of the 22,646 people counted with this name, 16,969 were male (74.9%) and 5,677 were female (25.1%). 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 Kristian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristian is White at 48.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.3%) and Black (18.8%). 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 Kristian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kristian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (10,981 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 Kristian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kristian a male name?
Yes, 75.2% of people registered as Kristian 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 Kristian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kristian 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 Kristian 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 Kristian?
See how many Americans are named Kristian on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.