Chriss
A masculine name derived from the word "Christ", representing the Christian Savior.
Name Census estimates that about 552 living Americans carry the first name Chriss. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Chriss today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chriss births was 1960 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chriss. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
552
~ 1 in 620,932 Americans
Peak year
1960
28 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,842
Tracked since 1914
Census
Chriss in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 840 people with the first name Chriss, which placed it at #14,119 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,119
National first-name rank
People counted
840
840 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chriss
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chriss is White at 63.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and Black (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Chriss described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Chriss at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.5% · 533
- Hispanic or Latino21.8% · 183
- Black or African American10.8% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 15
- Two or more races1.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Chriss
Chriss is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 670 total registrations, 520 (77.6%) were male and 150 (22.4%) were female.
Chriss as a male name
- Ranked #7,842 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1961 (19 births)
Chriss as a female name
- Ranked #10,482 in 1979
- 5 female births in 1979
- Peak: 1960 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chriss on both sides of the split. Of the 844 people counted with this name, 633 were male (75.0%) and 211 were female (25.0%).
Popularity
Chriss: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chriss from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chriss by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Chriss during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chriss' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Chriss
The name Chriss has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the 5th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "Christos," which means "the anointed one." This word is closely associated with the concept of the Messiah or the savior in Christianity.
The name Chriss gained significant prominence after the birth of Jesus Christ, who was believed to be the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. The name became widely used among early Christians as a way to honor and pay tribute to Jesus.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Chriss was Chriss of Lycia, a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. He was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
In the 4th century AD, Chriss the Patrician was a prominent Roman statesman and military leader who played a crucial role in the establishment of the Byzantine Empire. He is believed to have been instrumental in the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity.
During the Middle Ages, the name Chriss was widely used across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Christian traditions. One notable figure was Chriss the Bavarian, a Benedictine monk who lived in the 8th century and is renowned for his contributions to the development of monasticism in Germany.
In the Renaissance period, Chriss Colomb, an Italian explorer and navigator, gained fame for his voyages to the Americas in the late 15th century. Although his given name was Cristoforo, he was known as Chriss in many English-speaking regions.
Another famous bearer of the name was Chriss Marlowe, an English playwright, poet, and translator who lived in the 16th century. He is best known for his works such as "Doctor Faustus" and "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus."
Throughout history, the name Chriss has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including religious figures, statesmen, explorers, and artists. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its deep-rooted connections to Christianity and its cultural significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Chriss + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chriss as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Chriss: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chriss?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 552 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chriss going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 620,932 US residents.
Is Chriss a common name?
We classify Chriss as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 670 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chriss most popular?
The single biggest year for Chriss was 1960, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chriss is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chriss in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 840 people with the name Chriss, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,119 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Chriss in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Chriss?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chriss on both sides of the split. Of the 844 people counted with this name, 633 were male (75.0%) and 211 were female (25.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Chriss?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chriss is White at 63.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.8%) and Black (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Chriss most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Chriss in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.5% (533 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Chriss in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chriss a male name?
Yes, 77.6% of people registered as Chriss in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Chriss still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chriss in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Chriss can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Chriss?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.