Kristoff
Masculine · “bearing Christ”
Kristoff is a Scandinavian spelling of Christopher, and its American peak in 2015 has a clear cause: Disney's Frozen, released at the end of 2013, gave the name to one of its two male leads. Behind the spelling is a Greek compound meaning that the bearer carries Christ.
How old is the name Kristoff?
Kristoff first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Kristoff alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 600 people named Kristoff are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kristoff most popular?
Kristoff peaked in 2015, reaching #2864 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 3,279 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Where it comes from
From Christophoros to Kristoff
The story of Kristoff
Christopher was an early Christian name and became one of the most widespread in Europe; the saint became the patron of travelers, which is why his medal is in so many cars. Scandinavian languages produced Kristoffer and Kristofer, German Christoph, Russian Khristofor. The double-f spelling used here is closest to the Norwegian and Danish. Frozen, set in a Norwegian-inspired kingdom, gave its ice-harvester the name Kristoff, and American use of that exact spelling rises immediately after the film's release and peaks in 2015 — a two-year lag that is typical for film-driven names.
Meaning
bearing Christ
Greek Christophoros joins Christos, 'anointed' — the translation of Hebrew mashiach, messiah — to phero, 'to bear, to carry'. The name was originally understood metaphorically, of carrying Christ in one's heart. The legend of Saint Christopher, who carries a child across a river and finds him impossibly heavy because he bears the weight of the world, is a literalisation of the name rather than its source. The derivation is settled.
How the name formed
- Christophoros
- Christopher
- Kristoffer
- Kristoff
Related forms: Kristoffer · Kristoffer · Christoph · Christopher
Pronouncing Kristoff
KRIS-tof
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the doubled f simply closing the word. Scandinavian Kristoffer adds a third syllable. English readers produce the two-syllable version correctly on sight.
Nicknames for Kristoff
High
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
- 1977
- Most boys named
- 201541 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2864reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −22.2%14 in 2025, from 18
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.
Kristoff in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kristoffer in Norwegian — related form
- Kristoffer in Swedish — related form
- Christoph in German — related form
- Christopher in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Kristoffs among us
people named Kristoff are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Kristoff
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kristoff
- #6143
- Kristoff on the 2025 chart
- #901
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kristoff went to 14 boys in 2025, but Christoph is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 27, which makes it the 901st most-given boys’ name of the year — 5,242 places above the chart.
- Kristoff14
- Christoph13
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 122,005 for Kristoff 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 Kieron test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kristoff's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kieron climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kieron's path sketches the road Kristoff is walking now.
Kristoff 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
Kristoff beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kristoff in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and expressible in two words.
- Kris and Kit are both short forms with long independent histories.
- Christopher is available as a formal version everywhere.
- The film association is immediate for anyone with children of that era.
- Kristoff, Kristof and Kristoffer all circulate, so records will drift.
- Its curve is tightly 2014-2017, which places a bearer's generation.
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Kristoff
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kristoffs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Kristoff are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kristoff?
- Kristoff is the most-used spelling in US records — 14 of the 27 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Christoph.
- How popular is the name Kristoff in 2025?
- Kristoff ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kristoff?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Kristoff — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kristoff with classmates?
- Kristoff will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kristoff
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Kemper#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Raja#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kristoff? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kristoff and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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