girl's name
Kristin
KRIS-tin
- Origin Norwegian
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 183,072
Northern Ireland
#499
2006 births
Kristin is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, and it is the smaller of a pair — Kristen holds 222,720 recorded births to its 181,344, and both charted only ever in America.
- Kristin is a name of Norwegian origin.
- Peaked in 1981, when 9,801 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 114,325 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1932.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Kristin 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 | 171 |
| 1940s | 1,685 |
| 1950s | 4,877 |
| 1960s | 24,567 |
| 1970s | 43,042 |
| 1980s | 71,041 |
| 1990s | 27,976 |
| 2000s | 6,166 |
| 2010s | 1,204 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 222 |
What Kristin means
Kristin means a follower of Christ, or a Christian. The Latin word is the ordinary adjective for belonging to Christ, applied as a name rather than translated.
Where Kristin comes from
Kristin is the Scandinavian form of Christine, from the Latin Christiana. In Norwegian it is the standard feminine, while Kristen is masculine there — so the American habit of using both as girls' names inverts the Norwegian system, and does so twice over. Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset's three-novel sequence set in fourteenth-century Norway, won her the Nobel Prize in 1928 and is the name's most substantial literary bearer.
Kristin in use
Kristin peaked in the United States in 1981, when 9,801 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 4756th in the United States on 29 births, across 183,072 lifetime births. Kristen, written up separately, holds 222,720 births and also charts only in America — so both spellings of this Scandinavian name lived and died entirely in one country.
How popular is Kristin?
In 2025, Kristin was given to 29 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Kristin 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 Kristin
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kristin also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kristin over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Kristin
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.
Kristin 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 Kristin
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kristin — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kristin
What does the name Kristin mean?
A follower of Christ, from the Latin Christiana.
Is it Kristin or Kristen?
Both are used in America. In Norwegian, Kristin is the feminine and Kristen the masculine — American use inverts that.
Where is Kristin used?
The United States only, at 4756th — as with Kristen, it never established itself elsewhere.
How popular is Kristin?
4756th in the United States, down from a 1981 peak of 9,801 births.
Is Kristin a girl's or a boy's name?
Kristin is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Kristin?
Kristin has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Kristin?
Kristin is usually shortened to Kris.
Is Kristin a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kristin currently ranks #4,756 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.