Head to head · Boys' names
Christopher vs Lincoln
#68 vs #69 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Christopher is a whisker ahead (#68 vs #69 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Each name in full: Christopher · Lincoln
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Christopher leads 4 measures of 6; Lincoln leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Christopher — stepping back from its peak. About 1,906,000 people named Christopher are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Lincoln — stepping back from its peak. About 100,000 people named Lincoln are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Christopher #177, Lincoln #623 — Christopher higher
- 1890s: Christopher #211, Lincoln #559 — Christopher higher
- 1900s: Christopher #289, Lincoln #583 — Christopher higher
- 1910s: Christopher #323, Lincoln #517 — Christopher higher
- 1920s: Christopher #342, Lincoln #543 — Christopher higher
- 1930s: Christopher #335, Lincoln #651 — Christopher higher
- 1940s: Christopher #163, Lincoln #703 — Christopher higher
- 1950s: Christopher #53, Lincoln #809 — Christopher higher
- 1960s: Christopher #19, Lincoln #700 — Christopher higher
- 1970s: Christopher #3, Lincoln #734 — Christopher higher
- 1980s: Christopher #2, Lincoln #851 — Christopher higher
- 1990s: Christopher #3, Lincoln #828 — Christopher higher
- 2000s: Christopher #8, Lincoln #446 — Christopher higher
- 2010s: Christopher #31, Lincoln #93 — Christopher higher
- 2020s: Christopher #56, Lincoln #58 — Christopher higher
Christopher stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Christopher | Lincoln |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #177 | #623 |
| 1890s | #211 | #559 |
| 1900s | #289 | #583 |
| 1910s | #323 | #517 |
| 1920s | #342 | #543 |
| 1930s | #335 | #651 |
| 1940s | #163 | #703 |
| 1950s | #53 | #809 |
| 1960s | #19 | #700 |
| 1970s | #3 | #734 |
| 1980s | #2 | #851 |
| 1990s | #3 | #828 |
| 2000s | #8 | #446 |
| 2010s | #31 | #93 |
| 2020s | #56 | #58 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Christopher
Not charting outside the US.
Lincoln
- Canada#67
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Christopher
Christ-bearer
Greek Christophoros joins Christos, the anointed one — itself a translation of the Hebrew word behind Messiah — with pherein, to carry or bear. The same verb ends Theophorus and gives English words about carrying. The meaning is not disputed. What is worth separating is the sense: early Christians used bearer figuratively, of someone who carried the faith within them, and the literal reading is what generated the legend rather than the other way around.
Christophoros → Christopherus → Christopher
How it traveled
The legend is one of the best known in Europe. A giant of a man looking for the greatest master to serve is told to carry travelers across a river; a child asks to be carried, grows unbearably heavy midstream, and turns out to be Christ carrying the weight of the world.
Lincoln
Roman colony by the pool
The first element is Brittonic lindo, 'pool' — the Brayford Pool on the Witham; the second is Latin colonia, a settlement of Roman veterans. Together, Lindum Colonia, worn down over centuries to Lincoln.
Lindum Colonia → Lincoln (English city) → Lincoln (English surname) → Lincoln (given name)
How it traveled
The Romans founded a colonia at a Celtic settlement named for its pool, and the compound name survived the fall of the empire, Anglo-Saxon and Norse rule, and a thousand years of English speech to become the city and county of Lincoln. English families who lived there or came from there carried the place name as a surname, and it reached America with them in the colonial period.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Christopher
KRIS-tuh-fur
KRIS-tuh-fur, three syllables, stress at the front, the middle reduced almost to nothing. The ch is a Greek chi and has always been said as a k in English. Polish rebuilds the whole thing around its own consonants and produces something an English speaker would not recognize on paper.
- Chris — The front clipped, and what nearly every Christopher is called; it works for either child and shares the ground with Christine.
- Topher — Cut from the back rather than the front, which is unusual in English and increasingly used for exactly that reason.
- Kit — The old English short form, standard for centuries and now rare enough to sound deliberate.
- Christo — The first two syllables kept, which is the Mediterranean habit and travels well into English.
Lincoln
LINK-un
The second l is silent — LINK-un, not LIN-coln. Stress falls on the first syllable. Speakers of languages that pronounce every letter often say LIN-koln at first.
- Linc — The standard short form in American use, informal, rarely given on its own.
- Link — A phonetic short form, informal; also a name in its own right and familiar from video games.
- Lin — Less common, informal within families; stands alone as a name in several other traditions.
Who has carried each name
Christopher
Christopher Reeve (b. 1952) — Superman on screen — and a hero off it
Christopher Nolan (b. 1970) — Director of Oppenheimer and The Dark Knight
Christopher Lee (b. 1922) — Cinema's great villain — Dracula and Saruman
Lincoln
No documented entry for Lincoln yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Christopher if you want…
- a name with more sound in itChristopher runs 3 syllables, Lincoln 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 77% for Lincoln
Choose Lincoln if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesLincoln is 2 syllables to Christopher's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLincoln is on the national lists of Canada
- a name that feels very nowLincoln is stepping back from its peak
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Christopher
Strengths
- The meaning is vivid, specific and comes with one of the best stories attached to any name.
- Chris, Kit and Topher are three genuinely different short forms in three different registers.
- Every European language has a version, so it needs no translation anywhere.
To consider
- Chris arrives immediately and is shared with Christine and Christina, so it settles nothing about who is being called.
- A great many people already carry it, and a Christopher will rarely be the only one in a room over a lifetime.
- The name is unmistakably Christian in origin, which for some families is the point and for others is a history they are not part of.
Lincoln
Strengths
- A spelling almost every English speaker already knows from maps, history books and coins, so it is written correctly on the first try.
- Two established short forms in genuine use, Linc and Link, without anyone needing to invent one.
- In continuous use as an American given name for well over a century, so it has a record rather than a moment.
To consider
- The presidential association is permanent and loud: pennies, the Memorial, the Gettysburg Address, a car brand, a toy log set. Your child will hear all of it.
- Almost everyone who carries it is a child, so it reads as distinctly young — there are very few adult Lincolns to grow into.
- Non-English speakers regularly say LIN-koln, since the silent second l is not obvious from the spelling.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Christopher
12%chance Christopher feels dated by 2040
Christopher has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Lincoln
77%chance Lincoln feels dated by 2040
Lincoln is coming down from a big peak (#40 in 2020). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Christopher and Lincoln in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Christopher and Lincoln?
Put both to the vote.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Christopher and Lincoln — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Christopher or Lincoln — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Christopher or Lincoln?
- Christopher, in 2025: Christopher ranked #68 with 4,748 babies; Lincoln ranked #69 with 4,703 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Christopher or Lincoln?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Christopher moved down 21 places; Lincoln moved down 29 places.
- Which is the older name, Christopher or Lincoln?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Christopher and Lincoln?
- About 1,906,000 people named Christopher are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 100,000 people named Lincoln are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Christophers or Lincolns in the classroom?
- Christopher will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lincoln will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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