Kristel
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "follower of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 2,770 living Americans carry the first name Kristel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kristel today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kristel births was 1982 (145 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kristel. 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 Kristel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 123,738 Americans
Peak year
1982
145 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,420
Tracked since 1952
Census
Kristel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,006 people with the first name Kristel, which placed it at #5,629 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
#5,629
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,006 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kristel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristel is White at 49.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.2%). 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 Kristel 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 Kristel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.5% · 1,488
- Hispanic or Latino28.5% · 858
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.2% · 337
- Black or African American6.6% · 199
- Two or more races3.6% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 16
Popularity
Kristel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kristel 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 896 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
Kristel 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 Kristel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kristels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kristel, while South Carolina, Oregon, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kristel
The name Kristel is derived from the Greek name Christos, which means "anointed one" or "the anointed." It is a feminine form of the name Christian, which has its roots in the Christian religion. The name Kristel gained popularity in Scandinavia and other parts of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kristel dates back to the 13th century in Denmark and Sweden. It was a popular name among the nobility and upper classes during this time period. The name is also found in various medieval records and documents from the region.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Kristel of Denmark, a Danish noblewoman who lived in the late 13th century. She was a prominent figure in the royal court and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
In the 16th century, Kristel Varnhagen, a German writer and salonnière, was a notable figure in the literary circles of Berlin. She hosted a renowned salon where intellectuals and artists gathered to discuss literature, philosophy, and the arts.
During the 17th century, Kristel van Vliet, a Dutch Golden Age painter, gained recognition for her still-life paintings and portraits. Her works are currently housed in various museums across Europe, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In the 19th century, Kristel Maaß, a German novelist and poet, was a prominent figure in the romantic movement. Her novels and poems explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, and she was widely acclaimed for her lyrical and evocative writing style.
More recently, Kristel Balytautė, a Lithuanian swimmer, competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal in the 4x100m medley relay event.
While the name Kristel has its roots in the Christian tradition, it has transcended religious boundaries and has been embraced by people of diverse cultural backgrounds worldwide. The name's enduring popularity can be attributed to its melodic sound and its connection to the concept of being "anointed" or chosen.
People
Kristel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kristel 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
Kristel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kristel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,770 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kristel 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 123,738 US residents.
Is Kristel a common name?
We classify Kristel as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,959 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kristel most popular?
The single biggest year for Kristel was 1982, when 145 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kristel is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kristel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,006 people with the name Kristel, or 1.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,629 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 Kristel 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 Kristel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kristel appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,997 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Kristel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristel is White at 49.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.2%). 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 Kristel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kristel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.5% (1,488 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 Kristel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kristel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kristel 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 Kristel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kristel 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 Kristel 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 have Kristel as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.