Kjersti
A feminine Norwegian name of Old Norse origin meaning "Christian girl".
Name Census estimates that about 234 living Americans carry the first name Kjersti. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kjersti today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kjersti births was 1992 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kjersti. 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
234
~ 1 in 1,464,762 Americans
Peak year
1992
18 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2011 SSA rank
#15,874
Tracked since 1969
Census
Kjersti in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 340 people with the first name Kjersti, which placed it at #27,081 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
#27,081
National first-name rank
People counted
340
340 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kjersti
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kjersti is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Kjersti 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 Kjersti at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.3% · 324
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 7
- Two or more races1.5% · 5
- Black or African American0.9% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Kjersti: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kjersti from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 90 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
Kjersti 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 Kjersti 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 Kjersti
Kjersti is a Scandinavian given name of Norwegian origin. It is derived from the Old Norse word "Kjærr" meaning "marsh" or "wetland". The name was popular among the Vikings and early Norse settlers in the region.
The name Kjersti can be traced back to the 9th century AD. It was a common name among Norse women, particularly in Norway and parts of Sweden. The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to a runic inscription found in Västergötland, Sweden, from the late 9th century.
In Norse mythology, Kjersti was associated with the goddess Freyja, who was revered as the goddess of love, fertility, and beauty. The name was often given to newborn daughters in the hope that they would be blessed with the qualities embodied by the goddess.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kjersti was a Norwegian noblewoman named Kjersti Tordsdatter, who lived in the 12th century. She was the wife of Sigurd Jorsalfare, a Norwegian king who participated in the Crusades.
Another notable figure with the name was Kjersti Alvsdatter, a 14th-century Norwegian landowner and chieftain. She played a significant role in the ongoing conflicts between Norway and Sweden during her lifetime.
In the 16th century, Kjersti Andersdatter was a Norwegian farmer and landowner who was known for her involvement in local disputes over land and property rights. She is mentioned in several historical records from the time.
During the 17th century, Kjersti Torgeirsdatter was a Norwegian midwife and healer who gained recognition for her knowledge of traditional herbal remedies and her skills in assisting with childbirth.
In more recent history, Kjersti Skomsvold (1979-present) is a Norwegian author and journalist who has written several books and articles on topics related to women's rights and social issues.
People
Kjersti + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kjersti 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
Kjersti: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kjersti?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 234 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kjersti 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 1,464,762 US residents.
Is Kjersti a common name?
We classify Kjersti as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 249 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kjersti most popular?
The single biggest year for Kjersti was 1992, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kjersti is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kjersti in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 340 people with the name Kjersti, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,081 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 Kjersti 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 Kjersti?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kjersti leans strongly female. 344 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Kjersti?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kjersti is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Kjersti most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kjersti in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.3% (324 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 Kjersti in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kjersti a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kjersti 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 Kjersti still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kjersti 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 Kjersti 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 Kjersti?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.