Chris
Feminine · “anointed”
Chris is given to both — 22,955 girls and 147,462 boys since 1880. See Chris as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Chris is one of the most thoroughly unisex names in English. Christina, Christine, Christopher and Christian all reduce to the same five letters, and nothing in the spelling says which one is meant.
How old is the name Chris?
Chris first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Chris alive today was born around 1962, making them about 63 years old. About 20,000 people named Chris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Chris most popular?
Chris peaked in 1961, reaching #215 nationally. See the whole 1961 chart.
Where it comes from
From christos to Chris
The story of Chris
The christos names spread across medieval Europe as devotional names and became some of the commonest in every Christian language. When four very common names share their first syllable, the shared clipping becomes inevitable and belongs to all of them equally — which is exactly what happened here. American families registered Chris as a legal name for daughters through the twentieth century, peaking in the late 1960s while masculine use ran alongside throughout.
Meaning
anointed
All the parent names are built on the Greek christos, 'anointed', which entered Greek as the translation of the Hebrew title messiah. Christina and Christine mean 'a Christian'; Christopher means 'Christ-bearer'; Christian is the adjective itself. The shared element is the same in every case.
How the name formed
- christos
- Christina
- Chris
Related forms: Chris · Chris · Kris
Pronouncing Chris
KRIS
One syllable, hard ch as in 'chrome'. Said identically for either sex and in every English accent.
Nicknames for Chris
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 19621,519 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #215reached in 1961
- Change vs 2022
- +16.7%7 in 2024, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Chris in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chris in German — same name
- Chris in Dutch — same name
- Kris in English — spelling variant
Chriss among us
people named Chris are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Chris has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Four large formal names can stand behind it, so the choice stays entirely open.
- One syllable, five letters, and never misheard in any accent.
- It is genuinely unisex in a way very few names manage.
- Because it does not signal sex, it is often assumed to be masculine in writing.
- Given outright it stays informal unless a longer name is on the certificate.
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What they receive
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Chris
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Chriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 20,000 people named Chris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Chris in 2025?
- Chris is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Chris with classmates?
- Chris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Chris? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Chris and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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