# Christian (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/christian/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “christ”, “anointed [one]” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɹɪʃt͡ʃən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Xtian, Xian, Cristian |
| US babies named this | 473,843 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 453,968 / 19,875 (4% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 9,800, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Cristien, from Old French chrestien, from Latin Chrīstiānus, from Ancient Greek Χρῑστιᾱνός (Khrīstiānós), from Χρῑστός (Khrīstós, “Christ, anointed [one]”) + Latin suffix -ānus. The older form is Christen. Doublet of cretin. By surface analysis, Christ + -ian.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 167 | 1,376 |
| 2012 | 141 | 1,554 |
| 2013 | 135 | 1,588 |
| 2014 | 134 | 1,606 |
| 2015 | 125 | 1,698 |
| 2016 | 104 | 1,933 |
| 2017 | 91 | 2,115 |
| 2018 | 83 | 2,225 |
| 2019 | 72 | 2,458 |
| 2020 | 48 | 3,234 |
| 2021 | 48 | 3,309 |
| 2022 | 50 | 3,230 |
| 2023 | 39 | 3,851 |
| 2024 | 32 | 4,407 |
| 2025 | 27 | 4,901 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 10,334 | 30 |
| 2012 | 9,640 | 33 |
| 2013 | 9,352 | 35 |
| 2014 | 8,480 | 42 |
| 2015 | 8,220 | 43 |
| 2016 | 7,674 | 46 |
| 2017 | 7,025 | 52 |
| 2018 | 6,582 | 54 |
| 2019 | 5,781 | 57 |
| 2020 | 5,104 | 62 |
| 2021 | 4,636 | 71 |
| 2022 | 4,486 | 73 |
| 2023 | 4,158 | 77 |
| 2024 | 4,272 | 77 |
| 2025 | 3,641 | 96 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 257 | 204 |
| 2012 | 237 | 220 |
| 2013 | 239 | 218 |
| 2014 | 248 | 228 |
| 2015 | 265 | 214 |
| 2016 | 251 | 223 |
| 2017 | 245 | 217 |
| 2018 | 234 | 221 |
| 2019 | 223 | 225 |
| 2020 | 208 | 233 |
| 2021 | 190 | 248 |
| 2022 | 169 | 272 |
| 2023 | 155 | 290 |
| 2024 | 106 | 389 |
| 2025 | 105 | 393 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Кристиа́н, Хри́сто, Християна
- Chinese: 克里斯蒂安
- Czech: Kristián
- Danish: Christian
- Dutch: Christiaan, Christina
- Estonian: Kristjan
- Finnish: Kristian, Risto
- French: Christian
- German: Christian
- Greek: Χριστιανός, Κρίστιαν, Χριστιανή
- Hebrew: כְּרִיסְטִיַאן
- Hindi: क्रिश्चियन
- Hungarian: Krisztián, Keresztély
- Icelandic: Kristján
- Italian: Cristiano
- Latin: Chrīstiānus, Chrīstiāna
- Latvian: Krišjānis, Kristiāns
- Norwegian: Kristian
- Polish: Krystian, Krystiana
- Portuguese: Cristiano

## People named Christian

- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish writer and poet (1805–1875)
- Christian Bale, American-English actor (born 1974)
- Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (1777-1851)
- Christian Wulff, 10th German Federal President
- Christian Dopplerr, Austrian mathematician and physicist (1803-1853)
- Christian Dior, French fashion designer (1905–1957)
- Christian Eriksen, Danish association football player
- Christian de Duve, Belgian biochemist, cytologist (1917–2013)
- Johann Christian Bach, German composer (1735–1782)
- Christian B. Anfinsen, American biochemist (1916–1995)
- Christian Pulisic, American soccer player (born 1998)
- Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, former President of Burkina Faso ousted in a coup d'état on 23 Jan 2022

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.