Crystal
A feminine name of Greek origin alluding to transparence and brilliance.
Name Census estimates that about 304,289 living Americans carry the first name Crystal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Crystal today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Crystal births was 1982 (19,170 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Crystal. 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 Crystal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Crystal is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,185 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Crystal have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
304K
~ 1 in 1,126 Americans
Peak year
1982
19,170 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2010 SSA rank
#1,176
Tracked since 1884
Census
Crystal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 274,097 people with the first name Crystal, which placed it at #196 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
#196
National first-name rank
People counted
274K
274,097 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
90.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Crystal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Crystal is White at 57.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.1%) and Black (16.2%). 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 Crystal 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 Crystal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.1% · 156,376
- Hispanic or Latino19.1% · 52,267
- Black or African American16.2% · 44,435
- Two or more races4.1% · 11,161
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 6,814
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3,044
Gender
Gender distribution for Crystal
Out of the 333,092 babies given the name Crystal since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Crystal as a male name
- Ranked #11,024 in 2010
- 6 male births in 2010
- Peak: 1983 (82 births)
Crystal as a female name
- Ranked #1,176 in 2024
- 203 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1982 (19,098 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Crystal appears almost entirely female. Of the 274,101 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Crystal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Crystal from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 141,631 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
Crystal 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 Crystal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Crystals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Crystal, while Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6,436 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Crystal
The name Crystal is derived from the Greek word "krystallos," which means "clear ice." It was initially used to describe the natural mineral quartz, known for its transparency and brilliance. The name Crystal gained popularity as a given name in the 20th century, reflecting the increasing appreciation for gemstones and their symbolic meanings.
In ancient times, crystals were revered for their supposed mystical properties and were believed to possess healing powers. The word "krystallos" was recorded in Pliny the Elder's "Naturalis Historia," a comprehensive work on the natural world written in the 1st century AD. Pliny described various types of crystals and their supposed magical qualities.
While the name Crystal was not commonly used as a personal name in ancient times, it gained traction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of Crystal as a given name was Crystal Eastman, an American lawyer, and activist born in 1881. She was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement and a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Another notable figure with the name Crystal was Crystal Hubbard, an American actress, and vaudeville performer born in 1900. She was known for her roles in several Broadway productions and films during the early 20th century.
Crystal Gayle, an American country music singer born in 1951, is among the most famous individuals with the name. She gained widespread recognition for her hit songs, such as "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" and "Half the Way." Gayle's successful career spanned several decades and earned her numerous awards and accolades.
In the literary world, Crystal Wilkinson is an acclaimed African American author and poet born in 1962. Her works, including "Blackberries, Blackberries" and "The Birds of Opulence," explore themes of identity, family, and the complexities of rural life in the American South.
Crystal Lee Sutton, an American labor activist born in 1940, played a pivotal role in the fight for workers' rights. Her story inspired the 1979 film "Norma Rae," which brought national attention to the struggles of textile workers and the importance of unionizing.
The name Crystal has gained widespread popularity in various cultures and regions around the world, reflecting the universal appeal of gemstones and their symbolic associations with beauty, clarity, and purity.
People
Crystal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Crystal 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
Crystal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Crystal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 304,289 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Crystal 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 1,126 US residents.
Is Crystal a common name?
We classify Crystal as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 333,092 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Crystal most popular?
The single biggest year for Crystal was 1982, when 19,170 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Crystal is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Crystal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 274,097 people with the name Crystal, or 90.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #196 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 Crystal 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 Crystal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Crystal appears almost entirely female. Of the 274,101 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Crystal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Crystal is White at 57.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.1%) and Black (16.2%). 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 Crystal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Crystal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.1% (156,376 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 Crystal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Crystal a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Crystal 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 Crystal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Crystal 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 Crystal 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 Americans are named Crystal?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.