# Christopher (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/christopher/  
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 | “carrier of christ”, “christ”, “carrier”, “bearer”, “to carry”, “to bear”, “-er: forming agent nouns” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɹɪs.tə.fɚ/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Kit, Christie, Kester, Christy, Chris, Chrissy, Christoph, Topher |
| Variant spellings | Kristopher, Topher, Christophor |
| US babies named this | 2,079,103 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,069,596 / 9,507 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 27,096, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Late Latin Christophorus, from Koine Greek Χρῑστόφορος (Khrīstóphoros, “carrier of Christ”), from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ”) + φόρος (phóros, “carrier, bearer”), from φέρειν (phérein, “to carry, to bear”) + -ος (-os, “-er: forming agent nouns”), from the legend of Saint Christopher carrying the infant Jesus across a river.

## What it means

Christopher is grouped under bear.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 39 | 4,025 |
| 2009 | 23 | 5,932 |
| 2010 | 11 | 9,929 |
| 2011 | 18 | 6,922 |
| 2012 | 19 | 6,663 |
| 2013 | 15 | 7,843 |
| 2014 | 16 | 7,387 |
| 2015 | 15 | 7,708 |
| 2016 | 13 | 8,495 |
| 2018 | 9 | 10,752 |
| 2019 | 5 | 16,062 |
| 2020 | 11 | 9,073 |
| 2021 | 11 | 9,099 |
| 2022 | 5 | 15,820 |
| 2023 | 6 | 13,805 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13,027 | 20 |
| 2012 | 11,921 | 23 |
| 2013 | 10,878 | 26 |
| 2014 | 10,390 | 30 |
| 2015 | 9,853 | 32 |
| 2016 | 9,106 | 36 |
| 2017 | 8,319 | 39 |
| 2018 | 7,341 | 42 |
| 2019 | 7,022 | 44 |
| 2020 | 6,216 | 47 |
| 2021 | 5,863 | 52 |
| 2022 | 5,589 | 55 |
| 2023 | 5,198 | 55 |
| 2024 | 5,082 | 61 |
| 2025 | 4,748 | 68 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 582 | 111 |
| 2012 | 563 | 112 |
| 2013 | 455 | 132 |
| 2014 | 419 | 136 |
| 2015 | 454 | 131 |
| 2016 | 428 | 138 |
| 2017 | 344 | 163 |
| 2018 | 332 | 168 |
| 2019 | 368 | 152 |
| 2020 | 298 | 179 |
| 2021 | 287 | 191 |
| 2022 | 271 | 191 |
| 2023 | 269 | 187 |
| 2024 | 247 | 204 |
| 2025 | 247 | 203 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: كْرِيسْتُوفَر
- Armenian: Կրիսդապոր, Քրիստոֆեր
- Bulgarian: Хри́сто, Христофор
- Catalan: Cristòfol
- Chinese: 克里斯托弗
- Czech: Kryštof
- Danish: Christoffer
- Dutch: Christoffel, Kristof, Kristoffel
- Esperanto: Kristoforo
- Estonian: Kristofer
- Finnish: Risto, Kristoferi
- French: Christophe
- Georgian: ქრისტეფორე
- German: Christoph
- Greek: Χριστόφορος, Χρήστος
- Hebrew: כְּרִיסְטוֹפֶר
- Hindi: क्रिस्टोफ़र
- Hungarian: Kristóf, Krisztofer
- Icelandic: Kristófer
- Indonesian: Kristofer

## People named Christopher

- Christopher Lee, English actor and singer (1922–2015)
- Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor (1929–2021)
- Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist, poet and translator (1564–1593)
- Christopher Wren, English architect (1632–1723)
- Christopher Hitchens, English American author and journalist (1949–2011)
- Christopher Reeve, American actor (1952–2004)
- Christopher Walken, American actor (born 1943)
- Christopher Lloyd, American actor (born 1938)
- Christopher Lambert, American actor
- Christopher Paolini, author, novelist
- Christopher A. Sims, American econometrician and macroeconomist (1942-2026)
- Christopher Isherwood, British-American novelist (1904-1986)

## 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.