Kristal
Of English origin, meaning "crystalline stone" or "transparent brilliance".
Name Census estimates that about 11,238 living Americans carry the first name Kristal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kristal today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kristal births was 1982 (582 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kristal. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kristal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,500 Americans
Peak year
1982
582 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,240
Tracked since 1951
Census
Kristal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,597 people with the first name Kristal, which placed it at #2,369 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
#2,369
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,597 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kristal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristal is White at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.2%) and Black (15.8%). 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 Kristal 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 Kristal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.6% · 5,471
- Hispanic or Latino25.2% · 2,671
- Black or African American15.8% · 1,674
- Two or more races3.7% · 394
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 303
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 84
Popularity
Kristal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kristal from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 4,338 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
Kristal 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 Kristal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kristals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kristal, while South Dakota, Nebraska, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 211 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kristal
The name Kristal is a variant spelling of the name Crystal, which has its origins in the Ancient Greek language. The word "krustallos" meant ice or crystal, referring to the transparent mineral. The name likely arose as a metaphorical reference to clarity, purity, or beauty.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Crystal appeared in medieval English records dating back to the 12th century. It was sometimes rendered as Cristal or Cristall, reflecting the linguistic shift from the Greek root. The name gained popularity during the Renaissance period, particularly in England and France.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Crystal de Verdun, a 13th-century noblewoman from Normandy, France. In literature, the name appeared in the 14th-century English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," where a character named Crystal is mentioned.
During the 16th century, the name was associated with the rise of Protestantism and the translation of the Bible into vernacular languages. The name Crystal was sometimes used as a symbolic reference to the clarity and transparency desired in religious teachings.
In the 17th century, Crystal Towneley (1617-1672) was a notable English author and philosopher. She wrote works on religious and political topics, challenging the societal norms of her time.
The 18th century brought Crystal Eastlake (1770-1845), an English artist and writer known for her expertise in interior design and decorative arts. Her influential book "Hints on Household Taste" helped shape Victorian-era aesthetics.
In the 19th century, Crystal Ambruster (1853-1924) was a German-American artist and educator. She founded the Crystal Ambruster School of Art in Chicago, which played a significant role in promoting arts education for women.
Another notable figure was Crystal Eastman (1881-1928), an American lawyer, activist, and leader in the women's suffrage movement. She co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and advocated for workers' rights and gender equality.
People
Kristal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kristal 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
Kristal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kristal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kristal 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 30,500 US residents.
Is Kristal a common name?
We classify Kristal as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,065 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kristal most popular?
The single biggest year for Kristal was 1982, when 582 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kristal 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 Kristal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,597 people with the name Kristal, or 3.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,369 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 Kristal 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 Kristal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kristal appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,596 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Kristal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristal is White at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.2%) and Black (15.8%). 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 Kristal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kristal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.6% (5,471 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 Kristal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kristal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kristal 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 Kristal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kristal 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 Kristal 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 many people share the name Kristal?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.