Kjerstin
Of Scandinavian origin, meaning "Christian" or "follower of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 239 living Americans carry the first name Kjerstin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kjerstin today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kjerstin births was 1991 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kjerstin. 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
239
~ 1 in 1,434,119 Americans
Peak year
1991
14 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2018 SSA rank
#16,976
Tracked since 1970
Census
Kjerstin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 310 people with the first name Kjerstin, which placed it at #28,807 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
#28,807
National first-name rank
People counted
310
310 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kjerstin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kjerstin is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Kjerstin 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 Kjerstin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.2% · 289
- Two or more races3.9% · 12
- Black or African American1.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Kjerstin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kjerstin from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 64 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Kjerstin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kjerstin 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 Kjerstin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kjerstins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kjerstin
The name Kjerstin originates from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by Scandinavian people during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is a feminine form of the masculine name Kjartan, which is derived from the Old Norse words "kjör" meaning "choice" and "standa" meaning "to stand". Together, the name Kjartan signifies "the chosen one" or "the elect".
Kjerstin is believed to have first appeared in Iceland, where the Norse settlers brought their language and names. The Icelandic Book of Settlements, a medieval manuscript detailing the settlement of Iceland, mentions individuals with the name Kjartan, indicating its early use in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kjerstin appears in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of narratives that chronicle the lives and adventures of prominent Icelanders during the Viking Age and the early Middle Ages. The Laxdæla Saga, written in the 13th century, features a character named Kjartansson, a diminutive form of Kjartan.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kjerstin. One of the earliest was Kjerstin Jacobsdotter (c. 1475-1544), a Swedish noblewoman and landowner from the Natt och Dag family. Another prominent figure was Kjerstin Sture (1492-1585), a Swedish noble and politician who played a significant role in the Swedish Reformation.
In the 17th century, Kjerstin Björnsdotter (1621-1688) was a Swedish merchant and shipowner from Gothenburg, known for her business acumen and wealth. A century later, Kjerstin Karin Lampa (1788-1838) was a Swedish educator and writer who founded one of the first schools for girls in Stockholm.
In more recent times, Kjerstin Dellert (1925-2018) was a Swedish actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions throughout her career, spanning over six decades.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have carried the name Kjerstin throughout history, a name with deep roots in the Norse culture and language, reflecting the rich heritage of Scandinavian naming traditions.
People
Kjerstin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kjerstin 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
Kjerstin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kjerstin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kjerstin 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 1,434,119 US residents.
Is Kjerstin a common name?
We classify Kjerstin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 248 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kjerstin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kjerstin was 1991, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kjerstin is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kjerstin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 310 people with the name Kjerstin, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,807 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 Kjerstin 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 Kjerstin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kjerstin leans strongly female. 304 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Kjerstin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kjerstin is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Kjerstin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kjerstin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (289 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 Kjerstin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kjerstin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kjerstin 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 Kjerstin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kjerstin 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 Kjerstin 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 Kjerstin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.