Cross
Masculine · “cross”
Cross is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,375 boys against 6 girls since 1880.
Cross is a Latin word for a stake — crux, the instrument of execution — which Christianity turned into its central symbol within three centuries.
How old is the name Cross?
Cross first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Cross alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,400 people named Cross are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cross most popular?
Cross peaked in 1998, reaching #1642 nationally. Today it ranks #1959, 317 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From crux to Cross
The story of Cross
Crux named a method of execution the Romans reserved for slaves and rebels. Constantine's edict of 337 abolished it, and only then did the symbol become general. English took the word through Irish rather than directly from Latin, which is unusual. Cross entered American given-name use in the 2010s and is in current use.
Meaning
cross
From the Latin crux, 'stake' or 'gibbet', through the Old Irish cros into English. It named an execution device before it named anything else; early Christians used the fish and the anchor for centuries before adopting it. The word is ordinary and the etymology documented.
How the name formed
- crux
- cros
- cross
- Cross
Related forms: Cruz · Croce · Cros
Pronouncing Cross
KRAWS
One syllable. It is a homophone of the ordinary English noun and verb.
Nicknames for Cross
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
- 1997
- Most boys named
- 202578 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1642reached in 1998
- Change vs 2024
- +39.3%78 in 2025, from 56
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.
Cross in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cruz in Spanish — related form
- Croce in Italian — related form
- Cros in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, California.
Crosss among us
people named Cross are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 21,898 born in 2025 was named Cross
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cross
- #1959
- Cross on the 2025 chart
- #675
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cross went to 78 boys in 2025, but Kross is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 262, which makes it the 675th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,284 places above the chart.
- Kross184
- Cross78
About 1 boy in 6,519 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 21,898 for Cross 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 Iven test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cross's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Iven climbed just as high around 1920, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Iven's path sketches the road Cross is walking now.
Cross 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 Cross is headed
Cross should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Cross beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cross in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That English took the word through Irish rather than Latin is a genuinely odd fact.
- Cruz is available as an established related name.
- One syllable, firm, and never mispronounced.
- It is an ordinary English noun and verb.
- The religious association is total and specific.
- The word named an execution device first.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Cross
Masculine · #1959 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Crosss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Cross are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cross?
- Cross is one of 2 recorded spellings. Kross is the more common one — 184 births in 2025 against 78 for Cross.
- How popular is the name Cross in 2025?
- Cross ranks #1959 among US boy names in 2025, with 78 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cross?
- About 1 in every 21,898 US boys born in 2025 was named Cross — 78 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cross with classmates?
- Cross will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cross
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Xayden#1959 · Greysen#1959 · Giovanny#1959 · Cyaire#1959 · Jaxtyn#1959 · Lior#1959 · Dan#1959 · Usher#1959
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cross? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cross and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
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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