Kris
Masculine · “Christ-bearer”
Kris is given to both — 14,400 boys and 13,571 girls since 1880. See Kris as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Kris is Christopher or Kristian cut short, and the Greek behind Christopher is Christ-bearer — a name that generated one of the most durable legends in European folklore.
How old is the name Kris?
Kris first appears in US birth records in 1937 — 88 years ago. The typical Kris alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 12,500 people named Kris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kris most popular?
Kris peaked in 1963, reaching #343 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, 2,838 places below that high. See the whole 1963 chart.
Where it comes from
From Christophoros to Kris
The story of Kris
Christopher was a great medieval name, and Scandinavian and German use produced Kristian and Krister with a K. Danish and Norwegian keep Kris as an ordinary short form. American families registered it outright from the 1950s, alongside Chris, and Kris for boys peaked around 1970.
Meaning
Christ-bearer
Through Christopher, from the Greek Christos and pherein, 'to carry'. The legend of the giant who carried a child across a river and found him unbearably heavy — the weight of the world — grew out of the name rather than the other way round. The Greek is transparent.
How the name formed
- Christophoros
- Kristian
- Kris
Related forms: Chris · Kris · Kristian
Pronouncing Kris
KRIS
One syllable. Kris and Chris are homophones; only the spelling differs.
Nicknames for Kris
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
- 1937
- Most boys named
- 1963504 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #343reached in 1963
- Change vs 2023
- +32.1%37 in 2025, from 28
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.
Kris in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chris in English — spelling variant
- Kris in Danish — same name
- Kristian in Norwegian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Kriss among us
people named Kris are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 born in 2025 was named Kris
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kris
- #3181
- Kris on the 2025 chart
- #516
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kris went to 37 boys in 2025, but Chris, Cris and Khris are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 487, which makes it the 516th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,665 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 3,507 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 46,164 for Kris 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 Lavern test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kris's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lavern climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lavern's path sketches the road Kris is walking now.
Kris 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 Kris is headed
Kris is easing off slowly — about 30% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. 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.
Kris beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kris in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Christopher stands behind it with a transparent meaning and a great legend.
- It is standard in Danish and Norwegian without change.
- Four letters, one syllable, and never misheard.
- Chris is much the commoner spelling and the two are homophones.
- It is thoroughly unisex and does not signal sex on paper.
- It is closely dated to the 1970s in American records.
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Kris
Masculine · #3181 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,500 people named Kris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kris?
- Kris is one of 4 recorded spellings. Chris is the more common one — 431 births in 2025 against 37 for Kris.
- How popular is the name Kris in 2025?
- Kris ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kris?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Kris — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kris with classmates?
- Kris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kris
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diamond#3181 · Walden#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Daren#3181 · Esau#3181
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kris? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kris and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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