Kirstan
Feminine form of the medieval name Cristian, derived from Christ.
Name Census estimates that about 460 living Americans carry the first name Kirstan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kirstan today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kirstan births was 1995 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kirstan. 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
460
~ 1 in 745,118 Americans
Peak year
1995
27 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2015 SSA rank
#17,899
Tracked since 1968
Popularity
Kirstan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kirstan from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 199 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kirstan 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 Kirstan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kirstans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kirstan
The name Kirstan is of Scottish origin and is derived from the name Christie, which itself is a diminutive form of the name Christian. The name Christian has its roots in Ancient Greek, with the word "Khristianos" meaning "follower of Christ." The name Kirstan emerged as a variant spelling in the 16th century.
Kirstan was particularly popular in Scotland during the Medieval period, especially among the Scottish nobility and gentry. It is believed to have been introduced to the region by early Christian missionaries who were spreading the faith in the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kirstan can be found in the Scottish Exchequer Rolls of 1501, which mention a "Kirstan Mure" from the county of Ayrshire. However, the name's usage can be traced back even further, with references to individuals named "Kirstan" appearing in various Scottish chronicles and records from the 14th century onward.
Notable historical figures bearing the name Kirstan include Kirstan Halcro (1490-1565), a Scottish noblewoman and landowner from the Orkney Islands. Another notable bearer of the name was Kirstan Muir (1570-1640), a Scottish minister and theologian who played a significant role in the religious debates of the time.
In the 17th century, Kirstan Sinclair (1610-1678) was a prominent Scottish writer and poet, known for her works exploring themes of love, nature, and spirituality. Kirstan MacLeod (1680-1745) was a Scottish warrior and chieftain who fought in the Jacobite Risings of the early 18th century.
Moving into the 19th century, Kirstan Gillespie (1820-1892) was a Scottish educator and advocate for women's rights, who established several schools and worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for girls in her native Glasgow.
While the name Kirstan has its roots in Scotland and was particularly prevalent in that region throughout history, it has also been used in other parts of the United Kingdom and beyond, though with varying levels of popularity.
People
Kirstan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kirstan 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
Kirstan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kirstan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 460 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kirstan 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 745,118 US residents.
Is Kirstan a common name?
We classify Kirstan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 479 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kirstan most popular?
The single biggest year for Kirstan was 1995, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kirstan is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kirstan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kirstan 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.
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.