Christian
Feminine · “a Christian”
Christian is given to both — 19,875 girls and 453,968 boys since 1880. See Christian as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Christian for a daughter is older than it looks. It was a standard woman's name in medieval England and Scotland — the Latin Christiana anglicized — long before it settled as a man's name in modern use.
How old is the name Christian?
Christian first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Christian alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 19,000 people named Christian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Christian most popular?
Christian peaked in 1992, reaching #280 nationally. Today it ranks #4878, 4,598 places below that high. See the whole 1992 chart.
Where it comes from
From christos to Christian
The story of Christian
Christiana was a common medieval women's name across Europe, and English and Scots records from the twelfth century onward carry Christian for women in large numbers — it was the ordinary vernacular form. Bunyan gave the name to his male pilgrim in 1678 and to the female one, Christiana, in the sequel. Modern American use is overwhelmingly masculine, with a feminine line that peaked in the late 1990s.
Meaning
a Christian, a follower of Christ
From the Latin Christianus and its feminine Christiana, built on the Greek christos, 'anointed' — itself the translation of the Hebrew title messiah. The name is the adjective itself rather than a name derived from it, which is unusual.
How the name formed
- christos
- Christiana
- Christian
Related forms: Christiana · Christiane · Christiane · Christian
Pronouncing Christian
KRIS-chun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically for either sex; some speakers give it three.
Nicknames for Christian
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
- 1886
- Most girls named
- 1991936 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #280reached in 1992
- Change vs 2023
- −30.8%27 in 2025, from 39
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.
Christian in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Christiana in English — related form
- Christiane in French — related form
- Christiane in German — related form
- Christian in Danish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, North Carolina.
Christians among us
people named Christian are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 59,528 born in 2025 was named Christian
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Christian
- #4878
- Christian on the 2025 chart
- #919
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Christian went to 27 girls in 2025, but Kristian and Khristian are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 41, which makes it the 919th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,959 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 39,202 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 59,528 for Christian itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Susanne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Christian's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Susanne climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Susanne's path sketches the road Christian is walking now.
Christian sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Christian is headed
Christian is easing off slowly — about 26% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Christian beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Christian in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a genuine and substantial medieval feminine record, not merely a modern crossover.
- The meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- Christiana and Christiane are available as unambiguously feminine formal forms.
- In modern English the name reads as masculine to nearly everyone.
- It is also an ordinary English adjective and noun.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Christian
Feminine · #4878 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Christians are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,000 people named Christian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Christian?
- Christian is the most-used spelling in US records — 27 of the 41 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kristian and Khristian.
- How popular is the name Christian in 2025?
- Christian ranks #4878 among US girl names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Christian?
- About 1 in every 59,528 US girls born in 2025 was named Christian — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Christian with classmates?
- Christian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Christian
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maribelle#4878 · Evangelia#4878 · Pari#4878 · Zoraya#4878 · Saba#4878 · Chyna#4878 · Odyssey#4878 · Zana#4878
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Christian? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Christian and another name?
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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