Christell
Of English origin, a diminutive form of Christian female names.
Name Census estimates that about 236 living Americans carry the first name Christell. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Christell today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christell births was 2004 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christell. 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
236
~ 1 in 1,452,349 Americans
Peak year
2004
28 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,724
Tracked since 1911
Census
Christell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 348 people with the first name Christell, which placed it at #26,649 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
#26,649
National first-name rank
People counted
348
348 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christell is Black at 42.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and White (23.3%). 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 Christell 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 Christell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.2% · 147
- Hispanic or Latino29.0% · 101
- White23.3% · 81
- Two or more races3.2% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Christell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christell from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 89 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Christell 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 Christell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, New York recorded the most babies named Christell, while New York, Louisiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Christell
The name Christell is a relatively rare given name that has its origins in the Germanic languages. It is believed to be a combination of the prefix "Christ-" and the suffix "-ell," which was a common diminutive ending used in Old High German and other early Germanic dialects.
The "Christ-" prefix is derived from the Greek word "Christos," meaning "anointed one" or "messiah," and is a reference to Jesus Christ. It is often found in names of Christian origin, such as Christopher, Christina, and Christian. The "-ell" suffix, on the other hand, was used to create diminutive forms of names, often indicating endearment or affection.
While the name Christell does not have a particularly long or well-documented history, it is possible that it was used as a variant of more common names like Christine or Christina in certain regions of Germany or other Germanic-speaking areas during the Middle Ages or early modern period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Christell can be found in the records of the Protestant Reformation. A woman named Christell von Grumbach (c. 1500-1566) was a prominent figure in the Reformation movement in Germany and was known for her support of the reformer Martin Luther.
Another notable figure with the name Christell was the German artist Christell Lekkerkerk (1642-1700), who was known for her still-life paintings and portraits during the Dutch Golden Age.
In the 19th century, Christell Baroness von Wintzingerode (1825-1908) was a German noblewoman and philanthropist who founded several charitable organizations and schools in Germany.
A more recent example is Christell Askew (1925-2018), an American artist and sculptor who was known for her abstract metal sculptures and installations.
Another person named Christell who gained recognition was Christell Fraiture (born 1962), a Belgian politician and member of the European Parliament.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Christell, but it remains a relatively uncommon name in most parts of the world.
People
Christell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christell 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
Christell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 236 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christell 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 1,452,349 US residents.
Is Christell a common name?
We classify Christell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 470 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christell most popular?
The single biggest year for Christell was 2004, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christell is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 348 people with the name Christell, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,649 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 Christell 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 Christell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christell appears almost entirely female. Of the 344 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Christell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christell is Black at 42.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and White (23.3%). 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 Christell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Christell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.2% (147 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 Christell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christell a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Christell in the SSA data are female. 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 Christell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christell 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 Christell 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 many people have Christell as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.