Christobal
Masculine · “Greek christos and pherein”
Columbus signed himself Christo Ferens, the Christ-bearer, translating his own first name into Latin and treating it as a commission. In Spanish he is Cristobal Colon, and the name he thought he was fulfilling means carrier of Christ.
How old is the name Christobal?
Christobal first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Christobal alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 700 people named Christobal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Christobal most popular?
Christobal peaked in 1952, reaching #2153 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 7,561 places below that high. See the whole 1952 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Christophoros to Christobal
The story of Christobal
In his later years Columbus signed documents with an elaborate device of letters above the phrase Xpo FERENS, a Greek and Latin compression of Christoferens, the Christ-bearer, which is his own name rendered as a title. He also assembled a Book of Prophecies arguing that his voyages were fulfilling scripture and preparing for the recovery of Jerusalem. The legend of St Christopher, a giant who carried travelers across a river and one day found the child on his shoulders unbearably heavy because he carried the world, is itself an allegory built to explain the name, which means Christ-bearer and existed before the story. So a name that generated a saint's biography was later taken by a navigator as a description of his own mission, and the country of Colombia and the city of Cristobal are named for him.
Meaning
Greek christos and pherein, Christ-bearing
Christobal is a spelling of Spanish Cristobal, the form of Christopher, from Greek Christophoros, joining christos, anointed, to pherein, to carry. The h after the C is not used in the standard Spanish spelling. The American peak is 1952.
How the name formed
- Christophoros
- Cristobal
- Christobal
Related forms: Cristobal · Christopher · Cristoforo
Pronouncing Christobal
krees-TOH-bal
Three syllables, stress on the second. Spanish writes an accent on that syllable and does not use the h after the C.
Nicknames for Christobal
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
- 1922
- Most boys named
- 200020 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2153reached in 1952
- Change vs 2023
- +40.0%7 in 2025, from 5
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.
Christobal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cristobal in Spanish — spelling variant
- Christopher in English — same name
- Cristoforo in Italian — same name
Christobals among us
people named Christobal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Christobal
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Christobal
- #9714
- Christobal on the 2025 chart
- #816
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Christobal went to 7 boys in 2025, but Cristobal is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 112, which makes it the 816th most-given boys’ name of the year — 8,898 places above the chart.
- Cristobal105
- Christobal7
About 1 boy in 15,251 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 244,011 for Christobal 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 Ersel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Christobal's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ersel climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ersel's path sketches the road Christobal is walking now.
Christobal 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
Christobal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Christobal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Cristo and Tobal are both usable short forms.
- The Greek meaning is transparent and documented.
- The Spanish pronunciation is completely regular.
- Cristobal without the h is the standard Spanish spelling.
- The written accent is dropped in American records.
- It is closely identified with Columbus.
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Christobal
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Christobals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Christobal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Christobal?
- Christobal is one of 2 recorded spellings. Cristobal is the more common one — 105 births in 2025 against 7 for Christobal.
- How popular is the name Christobal in 2025?
- Christobal ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Christobal?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Christobal — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Christobal with classmates?
- Christobal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Christobal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Christobal? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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