girl's name
Kristen
KRIS-ten
- Origin Danish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 228,226
Northern Ireland
#517
2012 births
Kristen is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, and in Denmark it is a man's name — the Danish Kristen is masculine and Kirsten the feminine. It charts in exactly one of our six markets.
- Kristen is a name of Danish origin.
- Peaked in 1982, when 9,596 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 31,277 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1938.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Kristen over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1930s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1930s | 20 |
| 1940s | 796 |
| 1950s | 2,913 |
| 1960s | 18,268 |
| 1970s | 44,803 |
| 1980s | 83,833 |
| 1990s | 53,413 |
| 2000s | 12,696 |
| 2010s | 3,346 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 864 |
What Kristen means
Kristen means a follower of Christ, or a Christian. The Latin word is the ordinary adjective for belonging to Christ, used as a name rather than translated.
Where Kristen comes from
Kristen is the Scandinavian form of Christian, from the Latin Christianus. In Danish and Norwegian it is masculine — Kristen for men, Kirsten for women — and English-speaking use inverted that, taking Kristen as a girls' name from the 1940s. So the name changes sex between Scandinavia and America, as Laurence does between England and France, though for a different reason: English speakers borrowed the masculine form and read it as feminine because it resembled Christine.
Kristen in use
Kristen peaked in the United States in 1982, when 9,596 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track — 1994th in the United States on 106 births and 2054th in Canada — across 228,226 lifetime births. Our records carry it only from 1938, so the whole arc from nothing to nearly ten thousand a year and back fits inside ninety years, and it never established itself outside America at all.
How popular is Kristen?
In 2025, Kristen was given to 106 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Kristen is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Kristen
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kristen also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kristen over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Kristen
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Kristen in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Kristen
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kristen — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kristen
What does the name Kristen mean?
A follower of Christ, from the Latin Christianus.
Is Kristen a boys' name?
In Denmark and Norway, yes — Kristen is masculine there and Kirsten the feminine. English inverted it.
Is it Kristen or Kirsten?
They are different names in Scandinavian use. English treats both as feminine.
How popular is Kristen?
1994th in the United States, the only market where it charts.
How many syllables are in Kristen?
Kristen has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Kristen?
Kristen is usually shortened to Kris.
Is Kristen a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kristen currently ranks #1,994 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.