Christobal
A masculine name from Greek meaning "bearer of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 674 living Americans carry the first name Christobal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Christobal today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christobal births was 2000 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christobal. 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
674
~ 1 in 508,538 Americans
Peak year
2000
20 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,154
Tracked since 1922
Census
Christobal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 694 people with the first name Christobal, which placed it at #16,301 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
#16,301
National first-name rank
People counted
694
694 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christobal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christobal is Hispanic at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). 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 Christobal 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 Christobal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.6% · 629
- White3.9% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 11
- Black or African American1.4% · 10
- Two or more races0.7% · 5
Popularity
Christobal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christobal from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 130 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Christobal 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 Christobal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christobals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Christobal, while New Mexico, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Christobal
The name Christobal has its origins in the Latin name Christophorus, which is derived from the Greek words "Christos" meaning "Christ" and "phero" meaning "to bear" or "to carry." This name literally translates to "Christ-bearer" or "one who carries Christ." The name's history can be traced back to ancient times and has been associated with various cultures and religions throughout the centuries.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Christophorus was given to a semi-legendary figure who was believed to have carried the Christ child across a river. This story became popular in the Middle Ages and led to the veneration of St. Christopher as the patron saint of travelers. The name subsequently spread across Europe and was adapted into various languages and spellings, including Christobal in Spanish.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Christobal can be found in the historical records of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Christobal Colon, better known as Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), was the Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean under the Spanish crown and reached the Americas in 1492, marking a pivotal moment in world history.
Another notable figure bearing the name Christobal was Christobal de Olid (c. 1495-1524), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés. He later led an expedition to Honduras but was eventually captured and executed by Cortés' forces.
In the realm of literature, Christobal de Villalón (c. 1475-1542) was a Spanish humanist and writer known for his work "El Crotalón," a dialogic novel that satirized the society of his time.
Christobal de las Casas (1484-1566), a Spanish Dominican friar and bishop, is remembered for his advocacy for the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and his criticism of the brutal treatment they endured during the Spanish colonization.
Christobal de Monroy y Silva (1612-1649) was a Spanish playwright and poet who contributed to the Golden Age of Spanish literature with his works, including the play "Morir y disimular" (To Die and Dissemble).
People
Christobal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christobal 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
Christobal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christobal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 674 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christobal 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 508,538 US residents.
Is Christobal a common name?
We classify Christobal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 784 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christobal most popular?
The single biggest year for Christobal was 2000, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christobal is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christobal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 694 people with the name Christobal, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,301 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 Christobal 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 Christobal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christobal leans strongly male. 688 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 9 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Christobal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christobal is Hispanic at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). 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 Christobal most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Christobal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (629 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 Christobal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christobal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Christobal 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 Christobal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christobal 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 Christobal 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 Christobal?
See how many people have the name Christobal on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.