Kresten
A masculine Scandinavian name of Germanic origin meaning "Christian" or "believer".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Kresten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kresten today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kresten births was 1992 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kresten. 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 Kresten. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1992
5 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
1992 SSA rank
#9,208
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Kresten: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kresten 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 Kresten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kresten
Kresten is a Scandinavian name with Danish and Swedish roots. It is derived from the Old Norse name Kristenn, which was a medieval form of the word "Christian". The name Kristenn itself comes from the Greek word "Khristianos", meaning a follower of Christ.
The name Kresten gained popularity during the Christianization of Scandinavia in the Middle Ages. As the new religion spread through Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, many parents began naming their sons after Christ or with variations of the word "Christian".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kresten can be found in the Danes Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, a 12th-century work of Danish history and mythology. The name is mentioned in the context of a Danish chieftain named Kresten Svendsen, who lived in the late 11th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Kresten. Kresten Pedersen Andersen (1876-1923) was a Danish politician and trade union leader who played a significant role in the labor movement in Denmark. Kresten Bjørnbak (1893-1951) was a Danish architect known for designing several churches and public buildings in Copenhagen.
Another prominent figure was Kresten Berntsen (1844-1927), a Norwegian explorer and whaler who was part of the first successful expedition to reach the North Pole in 1926. Kresten Pind (1539-1585) was a Danish nobleman and naval commander who served as the Governor of Norway from 1583 until his death.
In Sweden, Kresten Leijonhufvud (1609-1668) was a notable military officer and governor who played a crucial role in the Scanian War between Sweden and Denmark in the mid-17th century. He was also a member of the Swedish Privy Council and served as the Governor-General of Swedish Pomerania.
People
Kresten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kresten 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
Kresten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kresten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kresten 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Kresten a common name?
We classify Kresten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kresten most popular?
The single biggest year for Kresten was 1992, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kresten is about 33 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 Kresten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kresten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kresten in the SSA data are male. 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 Kresten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kresten 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 Kresten 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 many people share the name Kresten?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.