How common is the name Christopher?

1,499,872 people in the United States have the first name Christopher, about 1 in 201. It ranks #13 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CHRISTOPHER

#13

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
1,499,872
About
1 in 201
This common or more
9.5%
Who bears it

Of the 1,499,872 people named Christopher, 71.5% reported their origin as White, 12.4% as Hispanic or Latino and 9.7% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Christopher peaked in 1984, when 60,411 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1984
Births that year
60,411
In 2025*
4,748 ▼92%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 2,079,103 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Christopher by decade

Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #2 in every decade from the 1980s to the 1990s. The largest share of babies named Christopher, 37.9%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#404752
1890s#552668
1900s#772484
1910s#7331,960
1920s#7372,862
1930s#7192,744
1940s#31116,064
1950s#10778,655
1960s#25238,077
1970s#3478,191
1980s#2558,503
1990s#2361,334
2000s#7203,803
2010s#38102,277
2020s#9432,729
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.2%
Silent Generation 1928–450.4%
Baby boom 1946–648.6%
Generation X 1965–8032.6%
Millennials 1981–9637.9%
Generation Z 1997–1215.6%
2013 and later4.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Christopher is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Christopher has been most common in Alaska (1.6×), Delaware (1.5×), and Connecticut (1.4×), and least common in South Dakota (0.64×).

2,072,740 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Christopher

#11 Richard · 1,575,998#12 Thomas · 1,506,606#14 Jennifer · 1,331,077#15 Matthew · 1,315,151

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Christopher, most common first.

#3,200 Christoper · 6,743#4,533 Christophe · 4,073#5,366 Christofer · 3,213#6,962 Christpher · 2,243#7,081 Christoph · 2,188#7,941 Christoher · 1,858#9,631 Christipher · 1,432#15,111 Chirstopher · 767

Also a last name

As a last name, Christopher ranks #1,369 of 156,621, with 25,312 people. See Christopher as a last name

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