Keirstin
A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "follower of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 533 living Americans carry the first name Keirstin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keirstin today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keirstin births was 1998 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keirstin. 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
533
~ 1 in 643,066 Americans
Peak year
1998
31 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2018 SSA rank
#14,749
Tracked since 1968
Census
Keirstin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 475 people with the first name Keirstin, which placed it at #21,400 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
#21,400
National first-name rank
People counted
475
475 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keirstin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keirstin is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.2%) and Hispanic (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 Keirstin 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 Keirstin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.9% · 356
- Black or African American12.2% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 27
- Two or more races5.5% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Keirstin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keirstin from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 224 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
Keirstin 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 Keirstin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keirstin
The name Keirstin is a feminine given name derived from the Old Norse name Kjerstí, which itself is a combination of two Norse words: kjær, meaning "dear" or "beloved," and stí, meaning "path" or "way." The name can be traced back to the Viking era in Scandinavia, particularly in areas like modern-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
In its earliest recorded usage, the name Kjerstí appeared in ancient Norse sagas and historical records from the 9th to 11th centuries. These sagas often depicted strong, independent women who embodied the virtues of courage, loyalty, and resilience, which may have influenced the meaning and perception of the name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Keirstin was Keirstin Håkonsdotter (c. 1210-1263), a Norwegian noblewoman and the daughter of King Håkon IV of Norway. She played a significant role in the political landscape of her time and was involved in various negotiations and alliances.
Another notable figure was Keirstin Pedersdatter (c. 1500-1572), a Danish landowner and businesswoman who owned extensive properties and was known for her entrepreneurial spirit. She was a prominent figure in the economic and social circles of her time.
In the realm of literature, the name Keirstin appeared in the works of the renowned Danish author and poet Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). One of his fairy tales featured a character named Keirstin, which helped popularize the name in Denmark and beyond.
During the 19th century, the name gained popularity in Sweden, and one notable Swedish figure was Keirstin Hesselgren (1841-1919), a pioneering educator and advocate for women's rights. She founded several schools and played a pivotal role in advancing educational opportunities for women in Sweden.
Another influential figure was Keirstin Flagstad (1895-1962), a Norwegian opera singer renowned for her powerful soprano voice and her interpretations of Wagner's operas. She was widely celebrated and performed on prestigious stages around the world, leaving a lasting impact on the world of classical music.
While the name Keirstin has its roots in Scandinavia, it has since spread to other parts of the world and has been adopted by various cultures, each adding their own interpretations and influences to its meaning and significance.
People
Keirstin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keirstin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Keirstin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keirstin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 533 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keirstin 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 643,066 US residents.
Is Keirstin a common name?
We classify Keirstin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keirstin most popular?
The single biggest year for Keirstin was 1998, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keirstin is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keirstin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 475 people with the name Keirstin, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,400 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 Keirstin 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 Keirstin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keirstin appears almost entirely female. Of the 467 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 Keirstin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keirstin is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Black (12.2%) and Hispanic (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 Keirstin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Keirstin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.9% (356 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 Keirstin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keirstin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keirstin 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 Keirstin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keirstin 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 Keirstin 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 called Keirstin?
Want to know how many Americans are named Keirstin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.