Christelle
Feminine name of French origin meaning "little Christian".
Name Census estimates that about 985 living Americans carry the first name Christelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Christelle today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christelle births was 2010 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christelle. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Christelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
985
~ 1 in 347,974 Americans
Peak year
2010
31 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,025
Tracked since 1915
Census
Christelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,130 people with the first name Christelle, which placed it at #7,232 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
#7,232
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,130 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
57.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christelle is Black at 57.5%. The next largest groups are White (26.1%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Christelle 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 Christelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.5% · 1,224
- White26.1% · 556
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 150
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 122
- Two or more races3.3% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
Popularity
Christelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christelle from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 244 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Christelle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Christelle 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 Christelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Florida, New York, California recorded the most babies named Christelle, while Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Christelle
Christelle is a French feminine given name derived from the Late Latin name Christiana, which means "a Christian woman" or "follower of Christ." The name has its origins in ancient Rome, where early Christians adopted names reflecting their newfound faith.
The name Christelle gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in France and other parts of Western Europe. It was often used in religious contexts, such as for nuns or devout Christian women. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in French monastic records.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Christelle was Christelle de Courtenay, a 13th-century French noblewoman who was the daughter of Robert de Courtenay, Lord of Champignelles. She lived from around 1220 to 1285 and was a prominent figure in the court of King Louis IX of France.
In the 15th century, Christelle de Pisan, a renowned Italian-French writer and poet, was born in Venice around 1364. She is considered one of the earliest feminist writers and was a significant figure in the literary circles of medieval France.
Another notable Christelle was Christelle de Lamoignon, a 17th-century French aristocrat and philanthropist. She was born in 1621 and was known for her charitable works and support for the poor and underprivileged in Paris.
In the 19th century, Christelle Muller was a French painter and illustrator who lived from 1841 to 1896. She was known for her realistic depictions of rural life and landscapes, and her works were exhibited in the prestigious Paris Salon.
Christelle Petillonin, born in 1942, is a contemporary French actress who has appeared in numerous films and television shows. She has had a long and successful career in French cinema and is still active in the industry today.
People
Christelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christelle 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
Christelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 985 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christelle 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 347,974 US residents.
Is Christelle a common name?
We classify Christelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,084 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Christelle was 2010, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christelle is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,130 people with the name Christelle, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,232 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 Christelle 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 Christelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,138 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Christelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christelle is Black at 57.5%. The next largest groups are White (26.1%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Christelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Christelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.5% (1,224 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 Christelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Christelle 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 Christelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christelle 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 Christelle 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 are named Christelle?
See how many Americans are named Christelle on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.