# Kirsten (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/kirsten/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɝstən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Kyrsten, Kirstin, Kyrstin, Kirstyn, Kyrstyn, Kerstin, Kirsteen, Kiersten |
| US babies named this | 53,393 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 212 / 53,181 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,237, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From North Germanic (Danish Kirsten and Norwegian Kirsten). Doublet of Christina.

## 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 | 309 | 854 |
| 2012 | 256 | 987 |
| 2013 | 212 | 1,137 |
| 2014 | 184 | 1,297 |
| 2015 | 123 | 1,715 |
| 2016 | 150 | 1,513 |
| 2017 | 107 | 1,897 |
| 2018 | 89 | 2,140 |
| 2019 | 60 | 2,803 |
| 2020 | 70 | 2,484 |
| 2021 | 57 | 2,943 |
| 2022 | 63 | 2,738 |
| 2023 | 36 | 4,088 |
| 2024 | 51 | 3,145 |
| 2025 | 60 | 2,841 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 10 | 3,953 |
| 1980 | 12 | 3,523 |
| 1982 | 6 | 6,046 |
| 1983 | 8 | 4,722 |
| 1984 | 6 | 6,003 |
| 1985 | 8 | 4,947 |
| 1987 | 7 | 5,811 |
| 1988 | 9 | 5,023 |
| 1989 | 10 | 5,017 |
| 1990 | 10 | 5,208 |
| 1991 | 7 | 6,944 |
| 1992 | 7 | 7,084 |
| 1996 | 5 | 9,860 |
| 1998 | 8 | 7,247 |
| 2004 | 12 | 6,357 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 106 | 406 |
| 2009 | 56 | 654 |
| 2010 | 45 | 801 |
| 2011 | 29 | 1,149 |
| 2012 | 29 | 1,150 |
| 2013 | 28 | 1,220 |
| 2014 | 15 | 1,882 |
| 2015 | 13 | 2,070 |
| 2016 | 18 | 1,689 |
| 2017 | 12 | 2,201 |
| 2018 | 14 | 1,977 |
| 2019 | 3 | 5,591 |
| 2021 | 3 | 5,581 |
| 2023 | 5 | 4,056 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

## People named Kirsten

- Kirsten Dunst, American actress (born 1982)
- Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician (born 1966)
- Kirsten Flipkens, Belgian tennis player
- Kirsten Vangsness, American actress and screenwriter
- Kirsten Price, American pornographic actress, model & cable television host
- Kirsten Prout, Canadian actress
- Kirsten Wild, Dutch racing cyclist
- Kirsten Emmelmann, East German sprinter
- Kirsten Moore-Towers, Canadian figure skater
- Kirsten Barnes, Canadian rower
- Kirsten van de Ven, association footballer
- Kirsten Klose, German hammer thrower

## 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.