Kirstein
A German masculine name derived from the surname meaning "church estate".
Name Census estimates that about 66 living Americans carry the first name Kirstein. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kirstein today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kirstein births was 2001 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kirstein. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kirstein. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
66
~ 1 in 5,193,248 Americans
Peak year
2001
10 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2004 SSA rank
#17,538
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Kirstein: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kirstein from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 37 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Kirstein remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kirstein 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 Kirstein 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 Kirstein
Kirstein is a German given name with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. The name is a combination of two Old German words, "kiri" meaning church and "stein" meaning stone, likely referring to someone who lived near or worked at a stone church.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kirstein can be found in a 12th-century German chronicle, where a knight named Kirstein von Lauterbach is mentioned for his bravery in battle. In the 14th century, a prominent merchant from Augsburg named Kirstein Fugger was known for his successful trading endeavors across Europe.
During the Renaissance period, Kirstein was a relatively common name among German nobility and intellectuals. Kirstein von Eisenach, a 16th-century scholar and philosopher, was known for his writings on theology and ethics. Another notable figure was Kirstein von Nürnberg, a 17th-century artist and engraver whose intricate woodcuts and engravings were highly sought after.
In the 18th century, Kirstein Beethoven, the grandfather of the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven, was a renowned musician and singer in the court of the Elector of Cologne. The name also appeared in literary circles, with Kirstein Goethe, a distant relative of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, being a respected poet and writer.
Moving into the 19th century, Kirstein von Bismarck, a Prussian military officer and distant relative of Otto von Bismarck, played a pivotal role in the unification of Germany. Another notable figure was Kirstein Nietzsche, the brother of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who was a renowned philologist and classical scholar.
While the name Kirstein has become less common in modern times, it still holds a rich historical significance, particularly in German-speaking regions. Its enduring legacy serves as a testament to the cultural and intellectual heritage of the German people throughout the centuries.
People
Kirstein + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kirstein 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
Kirstein: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kirstein?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 66 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kirstein 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 5,193,248 US residents.
Is Kirstein a common name?
We classify Kirstein as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 68 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kirstein most popular?
The single biggest year for Kirstein was 2001, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kirstein is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kirstein in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kirstein a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kirstein 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 Kirstein still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kirstein 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 Kirstein 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Kirstein?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Kirstein, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.