Chris names over time

 You probably know several people with Chris- names (Christina, Christine, Kristin, Kristy etc.), but which is the most common? This post concerns itself with just women's names-- we'll leave men's names to another time.

The original Chris- name was Christiana, the feminine form of Christianus, which meant "a Christian" in Latin. It gave way to Christina, and Christine, the French form. Both were common in the USA in the 20th century, as were a number of offshoots, like:

Christy/Kristy/Christie - Christy and Christie can be surnames deriving from Christopher, but these are often used as pet forms of Christina, Christine etc. Christy was used for boys as well in Ireland in the early 20th century. From the 1940s on in the USA, it was primarily a girls' name, and often used on its own.

Kristin is a form of Christina used in Scandinavian countries. It became popular in the USA in the mid 20th century. It is also found in the USA as Kristen and Kristyn.

Kirsten is a Danish and Norwegian form of Christina. This became popular in the USA in the 1960s. Because some people pronounce it /KEER sten/ and some pronounce it /CUR sten/, there are a variety of different spellings. In 2023, the most common spelling was Kiersten. 

Christa/Krista is a short form of Christina, originally used in German and several other European languages. It found popularity in the USA in the latter half of the 20th century.

Crystal is not etymologically connected to the name Christina, but we are including it here anyway because its popularity can be, in part, to the fact that it starts with Crys. 

Chris - Plain old Chris was a choice for parents who couldn't decide on which Chris- name to use. Lots of little girls got named just Chris or Kris in the 20th century. It was a solid gender neutral choice, as many boys named Christopher were also called Chris. However, the SSA database data may be skewed, as there are a certain number of names that get misgendered every year (i.e., it may account for the large number of boys named Jennifer and girls named Richard every year). Because of this, the data may be inaccurate. 

There are other forms of Christina which have shown up in the Social Security Database, like Chrissy/Krissy, Christabel, Christiana, Chrislynn, Chrisanne, Kristalyn, Cristela, Kirsty, etc., but these have never achieved the popularity of Christine, Christina, Kristin, Krista, Kirsten and Crystal. In 2023, the most common Chris name was Christina. 

Here's a chart of Chris- names over time. Christine starts out being the most popular, peaking in the late 1940s, and then again in the late 1960s. As Christine's star fades, Christina and Christy take over. Crystal rockets to the top in the early-mid 1980s, only to fall just as rapidly. The main flaw in this data is that the birth rate has not remained stable over time, so raw numbers of namesakes may not reflect overall popularity, but it does give a good snapshot of the names within this set.

CHRISTINE/KRISTINE

Let's start with Christine, the most popular of all the Chris- names. Between 1880 (when we first have name data from the Social Security Administration) and 2023, there were  686,931 baby girls named Christine. The most popular spelling by far is Christine, with 585,835 namesakes, or 85% of the total Christines. Christine was quietly popular in the 1880s until the mid 1910s, when it shot up in popularity. It may have been influenced by the character of the same name in Gaston Leroux's novel Phantom of the Opera, which was published in 1910. It also followed the trend of names ending in -een/-ine being popular in the 1920s-1950s (e.g., Doreen, Kathleen, Colleen, Ernestine etc.)

All spellings, in order of popularity are:

Spelling    # total     % of total    Year first appeared

Christine 585,835    85%            1880

Kristine     84,199    12.3%         1916

Christene    4,916      0.72%        1888

Cristine       4,081      0.6 %         1916

Christeen    2,667      0.4%          1900

Kristene      1,176      0.2%          1946

Kristeen      1,174      0.2%          1944

Christyne       928      0.14%        1934

Krystine        568       0.08%        1949

Kristyne        396       0.06%        1947

Chrystine      351       0.05%        1912

Christean        167     0.02%        1919

Khristine        163     0.02%        1949

Khrystyne        97     0.01%        1988

Krystyne          96     0.01%        1987

Cristene           33     0.005%       1953

Crystine           28     0.004%       1979

I only put spellings that showed up in 5 different years or more into the above chart. There were a few outlier spellings:

Chrysteen (5), Chrystene (12), Cristeen (5), Khrystine (23), Christiene (6), and Krysteen (5) for a total of 56, or 0.008%. There have also been 16 girls named Christne, which I'm pretty sure is a typo for Christine.

        

In addition, it has appeared in the following compound names: 

Christinejoy (26), Christinemarie (26) and Christineanne (5).

CHRISTINA/KRISTINA

Christina gathered popularity as Christine's popularity started to decline in the late 1960s. Christina hit its peak in 1985, though in 2023, Christina was the most popular Chris name. Latin/Spanish/Italian forms of names (names ending in -a) are more popular sounding than French versions now, and have been for several decades. The Christine/Christina example follows that (e.g., Daniela, Mikayla, Maria, and Eva are more popular than their French counterparts, Danielle, Michelle, Marie, and Eve, whose popularity peaked in the middle part of the 20th century.) Since 1880, there have been 680,999 girls named some spelling of Christina in the USA.

The most common spellings of Christina are:

Spelling    # total     % of total        Year Spelling First Appeared

Christina    478,523    70%               1880

Kristina      136,412    20%                1915

Cristina        52,043       7.7%            1906

Krystina        4,803        0.7%            1949

Christena       2,835       0.4%            1880

Krystyna        1,651      0.24%           1952

Khristina        1,256      0.18%           1962 

Kristyna            722      0.11%           1969

Crystina            619      0.09%           1967

Chrystina          589      0.09%           1963 

Kristeena          377      0.06%           1968

Christeena        274      0.04%           1927

Khrystina            94      0.01%          1985

Krystena             92      0.01%           1986

Krysteena           79      0.01%           1985

Christinna           75      0.01%           1969 

Khrystyna           65      0.01%           1987 

Other spellings found are: Krisztina (27), Chrystyna (25), Cristena (18), Kristinna (17), Krisstina (11) Kristiina (10), and Kristiena (5) for a total of 113 (0.02%). In addition, there have been 48 girls named Chritina, 25 named Chrsitina, and 38 Chrstina, probably all typos for Christina.

The only compound name containing Christina is Christinamarie (163) and Kristinamarie (39).

CHRISTY/KRISTY

Christy is the overall most common spelling of this name, which started getting popular in the 1960s, when names ending in -y became more common. Parents began liking less formal and more nicknamey-sounding names for girls, like Jodi, Kelly, Carrie, Amy etc. and Christy follows this trend. Christy hit its peak in 1978, and that year the most popular spelling was Kristy. Overall, the first spelling recorded was Christie in 1881, and continued to be pretty much the only spelling of the name until the 1910s, when Christy started being regularly used. 1940 was the turning point when Christie and Christy gained 3 more spellings and doubled in popularity. It may have been influenced by Agatha Christie, whose popular novel And Then There Were None was published in 1939. From 1881-2023, there have been 368,313 girls named some variant of Christy. The most popular spellings are:

Spelling    # total     % of total    Year first appeared

Christy    98,470        27%            1887

Kristi       76,449        21%            1940

Kristy      70,450        19%            1941

Christie   45,958        12%            1881

Kristie     38,341        10%            1940

Cristy        8,158        2.2%           1944

Cristi         3,197        1%              1948

Cristie       2,096        0.6%           1945

Krysti           793        0.2%           1958

Kriste            621       0.2%           1950

Krystie          521       0.14%         1963

Kristee          500       0.14%          1953

Chrystie        346       0.09%          1948

Christe          331       0.09%          1951 

Khristi          146        0.04%         1963

Khristie        144        0.04%         1965

Crystie            90        0.02%        1959

Crysti              51        0.01%        1968

Chrysti            50        0.01%        1963

Kristye            43        0.01%        1961

Christey          40        0.01%        1971

Krysty             33        0.01%        1974

Other recorded spellings are: Kristey (22), Cristee (11), and Kryste (10) for a total of 43, or 0.01% of the total.

KRISTIN/KRISTEN

In Scandinavian countries, Kristen is a man's name, the form of Christian. Kristin is a woman's name, pronounced more like /kris teen/. In the USA, Kristin started out being the more popular spelling, but Kristen eventually took over as the favorite. In the USA, all spellings are used almost exclusively for girls. In the USA, the first recorded spelling of the name in the SSA database was Christen in 1910, which may possibly have been a typo for Christine. Christin followed in 1931, but disappeared from the record until after Kristin became established-- it appeared for the first time in 1932, and gained popularity, swapping places in popularity with Kristen until it reached its peak in the early 1980s. The peak year for all spellings of Kristin was 1982, with Kristen being the most popular spelling. The popularity of the name Kristin/Kristen peaks with the character arc of Kristin Shepard on the popular tv series "Dallas," who dies dramatically in 1981. Kristen had another spike in popularity in 1989, perhaps influenced by Kristin Otto, a German swimmer who was the first woman to win 6 gold medals in a single Olympic games. Altogether, there have been 458,785 girls named some form of Kristin since 1910.

Spelling    # total     % of total  Year first appeared

Kristen    218,433    48%            1932

Kristin     179,204    40%           1938

Christen     11,503     3%            1910

Christin      11,187     2%            1931

Kristyn         8,797     2%            1949

Kristan         5,541     1.2%         1945

Cristin          4,266     1%            1948

Krysten        4,028     0.9%         1960

Krystin         3,129     0.7%         1965

Cristen         2,649     0.6%         1958

Christan       1,366     0.3%         1952

Christyn       1,097     0.2%         1969

Kriston            719     0.2%         1965

Krystyn           711     0.2%         1967

Krystan           397     0.09%       1981

Cristyn            286     0.06%       1970

Christon          231     0.05%       1974

Crystin            225     0.05%       1980

Cristan            203     0.04%       1970

Crysten           154     0.03%       1981

Khristen          153     0.03%       1978

Krystn             110     0.02%       1960

Khristin           103     0.02%       1971

Chrysten           62      0.01%       1981

Chrystin            45     0.01%        1980 
Khrysten           29     0.01%        1989

Crystan             28     0.01%       1984

Other spellings include: 

Khrystyn (26), Kristn (22), Criston (19), Kryston (18), Khrystin (12), Chrystan (11), Kristynn (6), Christann (5), and Kristinn (5) for a total of 154, or 0.03% of the total. 

KIRSTEN

Kirsten is a Danish and Norwegian form of Christina. It was adopted in Scotland in the 18th century where it was spelled Kirstin, and translated into Scottish Gaelic as Ciorstan. Outside of Scotland, it was probably introduced to the English speaking world through Norwegian legendary opera singer Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962), who was a popular figure on the radio in the 1930s in the USA, being considered the "world's greatest soprano." In the SSA database, Kirsten first appears in 1937, coinciding with Flagstad's first appearance at the Chicago City Opera Company. There have been 99,001 Girls named some form of Kirsten from 1937-2023, with the peak year of popularity being 1996.

Kirsten has many spellings, reflecting that fact that in the USA, it is pronounced /KUR sten/ by some, and /KEER sten/ by others.

Spelling    # total     % of total  Year first appeared

Kirsten    53,022        54%        1937

Kiersten  14,721        15%        1963

Kirstin      8,772           9%        1942

Kierstin    3,268           3%        1966

Kerstin     2,528           3%        1963

Kierstyn   2,392            2.4%    1976

Kirstyn     2,308            2.3%    1975

Kyrsten    1,990            2%       1965

Keirsten   1,365            1.4%    1968

Kyrstin     1,271            1.3%    1965

Kersten       918            1%        1963

Kierston      848            1%        1971

Kearstin      726             1%       1979

Keirstin       547            0.6%     1968

Kearsten      529            0.5%    1978

Kirstan        473            0.5%     1968

Kurstin        466            0.5%     1967

Kerstyn       426            0.4%     1981

Kearston     423            0.4%     1978

Keirstyn      369            0.4%     1990   

Kursten       281            0.3%     1973

Kearstyn     253            0.3%     1989

Kirston        228            0.2%     1972 

Kyrstyn       192            0.2%     1989

Keirston      156            0.2%     1978

Keirstan      118             0.1%    1992

Kierstynn    107            0.1%     1995

Kurstyn       100            0.1%     1988

Curstin          77            0.1%     1991

Kerston         68            0.1%     1978

Kyrstan         62            0.1%     1988       

Kerstan         33            0.003%  1991

Other spellings found are: Kurston (23), Kyrston (20), Kirstynn (11), Kearstan (5), and Curstyn (5), for a total of 64, or 0.01%

KRISTA/CHRISTA

Krista has never been as popular as other Chris- names, but it still made an impact as part of the bundle of Chris names for girls. The first spelling recorded in the SSA database was Christa, which debuted in 1912. Krista came along in 1938 and eventually eclipsed Christa as the favored spelling. Originally, Christa was a short form of Christina that was used in some European languages, but it rode the wave of Chris- names to the USA where it was popular in the middle-late 20th century. There have been a total of 119,813 girls named some form of Krista in the USA, with the peak year being 1986.

Spelling    # total     % of total  Year first appeared

Krista        73,610        61%        1938

Christa      32,773        27%        1912

Krysta         6,562         5.5%      1961  

Crista          4,239         4%         1947

Crysta         1,775         1.5%      1960

Chrysta          572         0.5%      1946

Khrista           228         0.2%      1970

Khrysta            28         0.02%    1989

Being shorter than other Chris- names, Krista doesn't have a lot of variant spellings. The other recorded spellings include: Kristah (16) and Krystah (10), a total of 26, or 0.02% of the total.

CRYSTAL

In the Victorian era, names of flowers and gemstones started being used regularly for girls. The mid-late 1800s saw the rise of names like Violet, Ruby, Myrtle, Coral etc. Crystal was among these names. Coming from the Greek krustallos meaning "ice; rock crystal," in English Crystal has come to mean any mineral with a crystalline structure. However, compared to other contemporary gemstone and flower names, like Myrtle, Pearl, Beryl, and Opal, which had all but died out by the 1960s, Crystal has had much more staying power. Was it because of the Crys- beginning? Possibly--  the form Christel was originally a German pet form of Christina, which may have served to cement the association with Christina in the USA, though that spelling was never that common. Other spellings of the name, like Christle, Chrystal etc. have been used which were influenced by Chris- names, showing that Crystal was not seen as just another gemstone name, but also part of the Chris- canon.

Altogether there have been 489,070 baby girls named some form of Crystal since 1884 (the first recorded usage in the SSA database), with the peak year being 1982 , probably owing a lot to the fact that there was a character named Krystle Carrington on the popular tv series "Dynasty" (played by Linda Evans), which debuted in 1981.

Recently the name has become most popular with Spanish speakers, who traditionally used it in honor of La Virgen del Cristal, who has been venerated in Spain and Latin America since the 17th century. The Spanish form is Cristal, but other Spanish spellings have been found in the 21st century, like Cristhel and Kristhel.

 Spelling    # total     % of total  Year first appeared

Crystal        331,543     68%        1884

Krystal         74,945     15%         1941

Cristal          15,763       3%         1947

Chrystal       15,736       3%         1894

Krystle         12,935     2.6%        1969

Kristal          12,051        2%        1951

Christal          9,682        2%        1913

Christel          3,696        0.8%     1912

Kristel            2,906        0.6%     1952

Crystle           1,186        0.2%     1952

Krystel           1,112        0.2%     1971

Kristle               892        0.2%     1964

Crystel              743        0.2%     1958

Christle             526        0.1%     1958

Christell            465        0.1%     1911

Crystall             408        0.08%   1960

Khrystal            351        0.07%   1976

Kristol               255        0.05%   1968

Kristell              276        0.06%   1978

Chrystle            249        0.05%   1952

Christol             243        0.05%   1958

Kristyl               211        0.04%   1970

Crystol              208        0.04%   1957

Crystale             203        0.04%  1961

Krystall             170        0.03%   1977

Krystale            170        0.03%    1981

Christyl             142        0.03%    1969

Krystl                150        0.03%    1972

Krystol              117        0.02%    1972

Kristl                   95        0.02%    1964

Krystyl                88        0.02%    1982

Chrystel              77        0.02%     1968

Cristol                 62        0.01%     1973

Christl                 61        0.01%     1957 

Cristle                 59        0.01%     1962

Crystalle             56        0.01%     1977

Krystell               46        0.01%    1991

Khristal               45        0.01%    1974

Krystil                 41        0.01%    1982

Crystl                  27        0.01%    1972

Other recorded spellings are: Cristell (25), Kristyle (15), Cristhel (12), Crystil (11), Kristil (10), Crystyl (10), Christyle (8), Chrystell (7), Kristhel (6), Cristyl (6),Crystell (5),  Cristyle (5), and Kryztal (5) for a total of 130, or 0.03%.

Crystal has also showed up in a number of compound names: Crystallann (150),  Crystalmarie (62), Crystalrose (32) and Crystalgayle (5)-- all 5 in 1981, not surprisingly at the height of the singer Crystal Gayle's career. We also find Crystallee and Crystalee, but it also is found Kristalee and Cristaly, so I'm not sure whether to put this under Crystal or Krista. Also appearing in the SSA Database are Crystral (22) and Crysal (38) which I think we can chalk up to misspellings of Crystal.

There have also been 542 girls named Christelle/Chrystelle/Cristelle, but I wasn't sure if this was a fancy way of spelling Crystal (e.g., I have met a couple of Rachelles who pronounced it Rachel, and Cherelle who was Cheryl), or if the accent is on the second syllable (like Michelle and Danielle).

OTHER CHRIS- NAMES

In addition to the main names (the ones above), there have been a number of other Chris- names that have showed up in the SSA Database. Some of these may represent typos (e.g., some Christias may have supposed to have been Christinas? Likewise for Christna, although Krisna also exists). Is Kristain another spelling of Kristin? Is it a typo for Kristina? We'll never know, unless we track down the parents of all 542 Kristains and ask them!

Krisha is a Sanskrit name, but it also appears as Chrisha, Krysha, Kricia, and Crisha in the SSA database. Sanskrit names don't generally have alternate spellings, unless they reflect regional pronunciation differences. Is this also a Chris- name? 

Christian is another name that presents problems. While in the middle ages it was used as a woman's name, in the 20th century it was largely seen as a man's name. Many of the female Christians listed may have been gender typos (there are a number of these, as names like John and Roberts always show probably more female namesakes than were intended; likewise for male Elizabeths and Margarets)

Name        # Spellings   First Recorded    Peak Year(s)    # Babies total

Chris              10                  1914                    1964        38,507

Christian        11                  1886                    1991        29,240

Christiana      22                  1882                    1995        20,140

Christiane       9                   1946                    1970        4661

Krissa             9                   1956                    1990         2513

Krisha            6                    1964                    2017        2500

Krislyn          13                   1961                    2005        2460

Crystalyn       11                  1967                     1986       2132

Christinia         5                   1912                    1978       1640

Chrisann        8                    1946                   1967         1547

Christella       5                    1917      1963, 1973, 1984  1466 

Christabel      8                    1901                   2014         1401

Christelle       4                    1913              2011-2012     1223

Christia           3                   1958                    1987        1159

Criselda           3                  1958                     1982       1068

Krishana        12                  1975                    1993        670

Chrisandra     4                    1947          1983, 1989        624

Chrisette        3                    2008                    2011        560

Kristain          2                    1973                    1992       542

Christana        4                   1900                    1995        348

Christabella    4                   1997                    2012        309

Chrishelle       5                   1970                    2010        270

Krisalyn          4                   2002                    2006        218

Christna           4                   1969                    1982       218

Chrishonda      5                   1974                    1991       198

Crystallee        4                    1977                    1986      177

Christasia        3                   1995                    2005        170

Christmas        1                    1964                    1984        160

Chrisley           4                    2014                    2017        159

Krissia             3                    1988                    2006        132

Chrisma           2                    1978                    1992        129

Chrisanna        4                    1952                     1991        123

Krisinda           4                    1972                    1973         114

Chrisoula         2                    1966                     1981        102

Chriselle          4                    1998                     2015         80

Chrysanthemum    1              1958                     2016         79

Chrishawn        5                    1973                    1980         79

Crystalina         2                    1979                   1986          71

Crisbel              2                    2004               2019-2020     64

Crisol               1                    1990                    1996          64

Crisanta            1                    1922                1974, 1996    49

Christany          1                    2004              2005-2006      22

There have also been a number of Chris- names that have only shown up in one year:

Chrishae - 1999 (12)

Krisily - 2005 (11)

Crysania - 1993 (7)

Crysany - 1998 (7)

Chrysanthia - 1961 (6)

Krisheena - 1985 (6)

Krisina - 1990 (6)

Chrissiana - 2015 (6)

Christylee - 1979 (5)

Christielee - 1986 (5) - probably inspired by the Billy Joel song of the same name

Krishani - 2001 (5)

Krishara - 2003 (5)

Chrishya -2004 (5)

Chrishiya - 2008 (5)

So there you have it-- all the Chris-adjacent names out there. I didn't count Crispin (5 girls in 1967) and Crispina (23 from 1919-1930), because they are not technically Christina names, and don't really follow the trends. There have also been 52 girls named Christ and 32 named Krist, but my guess is those are typos for Christa or Kristi.