Christine
Masculine · “a Christian”
Christine is given to girls far more often — 586,465 girls against 2,030 boys since 1880. See Christine as a girl name
The ch at the front of this name is holding a Greek letter that English has no sound for. Chi was an aspirated k — a k with a breath after it — and neither Latin nor English could produce it, so both wrote two letters and said one. The spelling is a fossil of a sound nobody in the language has ever made.
How old is the name Christine?
Christine first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Christine alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 1,500 people named Christine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Christine most popular?
Christine peaked in 1966, reaching #1043 nationally. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Christiana to Christine
The story of Christine
One of the saints who carried it is remembered almost entirely for being extraordinary. The account of her life, written by a friar within decades of her death, has her apparently dying in her twenties, sitting up during her own funeral mass, rising to the rafters because she could not bear the smell of sin on the people below, and afterwards living in trees, in ovens and in rivers. Her contemporaries were divided between thinking her holy and thinking her mad, and the friar who wrote it down was clearly aware of the problem. She has been known ever since by an epithet that simply means the astonishing one.
Meaning
a Christian
From a Latin adjective built on a Greek title. The sense is not in dispute; the name is a statement of allegiance rather than a description of a person, which is unusual among names of its age.
How the name formed
- Christiana
- Christina
- Christine
Related forms: Christine · Christine · Cristina · Kristina
Pronouncing Christine
kris-TEEN
Two syllables with the weight at the back, as the French ending requires. German fronts the stress and adds a third syllable, saying kris-TEE-nuh.
Nicknames for Christine
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
- 1909
- Most boys named
- 198958 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1043reached in 1966
- Change vs 2002
- −12.5%7 in 2007, from 8
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.
Christine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Christine in French — same name
- Christine in German — same name
- Cristina in Italian — same name
- Kristina in Swedish — same name
Christines among us
people named Christine 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
Christine sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is recognized across Europe with almost no change of spelling.
- Chris and Tina sit inside it as short forms with nothing in common.
- The meaning is clear and needs no etymology to explain.
- Its peak was very large and very concentrated, which dates the name clearly.
- Christina and Kristine are both standard and get substituted.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
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What they receive
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Christine
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Christines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Christine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Christine in 2025?
- Christine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Christine with classmates?
- Christine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Charles#48 · Christopher#68 · Carl#1132 · Christian#96 · Caleb#58 · Cameron#76 · Carlos#150 · Clarence#1499
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Christine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Christine and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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