Christoffer
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 701 living Americans carry the first name Christoffer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Christoffer today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Christoffer births was 1990 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Christoffer. 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
701
~ 1 in 488,951 Americans
Peak year
1990
37 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,390
Tracked since 1968
Census
Christoffer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 649 people with the first name Christoffer, which placed it at #17,134 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
#17,134
National first-name rank
People counted
649
649 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Christoffer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christoffer is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Black (5.7%). 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 Christoffer 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 Christoffer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.3% · 463
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 82
- Black or African American5.7% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 35
- Two or more races4.3% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Christoffer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Christoffer from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 229 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Christoffer 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 Christoffer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Christoffers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Christoffer
The name Christoffer is derived from the Greek name Χριστοφορος (Christophoros), meaning "Christ-bearer" or "bearing Christ". It originated as a combination of the Greek words Χριστος (Christos), meaning "Christ", and φερω (phero), meaning "to bear or carry".
This name gained popularity during the early days of Christianity, as it was seen as a symbolic representation of the Christian belief in carrying the teachings and values of Christ. The earliest recorded use of the name Christoffer can be traced back to the 3rd century AD, when it was mentioned in various Christian texts and scriptures.
In the 5th century, the legend of Saint Christopher, a martyred Christian saint, further popularized the name. According to the legend, Saint Christopher was a man of great stature who carried a child across a river, only to discover later that the child was Christ himself, hence the name "Christ-bearer".
One of the earliest notable historical figures with the name Christoffer was Christoffer Columbus, born in 1451, the famous Italian explorer known for his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the discovery of the Americas. His name was Cristoforo Colombo in Italian, but it was later anglicized to Christopher Columbus.
Another prominent figure was Christoffer Plantin, born in 1520, a renowned Renaissance printer and typographer from Antwerp, Belgium. He established one of the most famous printing presses of his time and played a significant role in the development of typography and book publishing.
In the 16th century, King Christoffer III of Denmark, also known as Christian III, reigned from 1534 to 1559. He is credited with establishing Lutheranism as the state religion in Denmark and played a crucial role in the Protestant Reformation.
Christoffer Polhem, born in 1661, was a Swedish scientist, inventor, and industrialist considered the father of mechanics and engineering in Sweden. He made significant contributions to the development of various machines and industrial processes.
Lastly, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, born in 1783, was a prominent Danish painter and a leading figure in the Golden Age of Danish painting. He is renowned for his neoclassical works and his influence on Danish art in the 19th century.
People
Christoffer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Christoffer 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
Christoffer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Christoffer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 701 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Christoffer 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 488,951 US residents.
Is Christoffer a common name?
We classify Christoffer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 728 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Christoffer most popular?
The single biggest year for Christoffer was 1990, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Christoffer is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Christoffer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 649 people with the name Christoffer, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,134 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 Christoffer 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 Christoffer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Christoffer appears almost entirely male. Of the 649 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Christoffer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Christoffer is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.6%) and Black (5.7%). 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 Christoffer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Christoffer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (463 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 Christoffer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Christoffer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Christoffer 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 Christoffer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Christoffer 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 Christoffer 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 Christoffer?
You can see how many people have the name Christoffer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.