Kristina
A feminine name derived from the Greek Christos meaning "follower of Christ".
Name Census estimates that about 126,474 living Americans carry the first name Kristina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kristina today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kristina births was 1985 (5,584 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kristina. 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 Kristina with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kristina is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 353 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Kristina have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
126K
~ 1 in 2,710 Americans
Peak year
1985
5,584 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1996 SSA rank
#1,732
Tracked since 1915
Census
Kristina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 124,530 people with the first name Kristina, which placed it at #457 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
#457
National first-name rank
People counted
125K
124,530 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
41.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kristina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristina is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Kristina 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 Kristina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.9% · 97,021
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 12,733
- Black or African American4.1% · 5,102
- Two or more races4.0% · 5,017
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 3,962
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 695
Gender
Gender distribution for Kristina
Out of the 136,992 babies given the name Kristina since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kristina as a male name
- Ranked #9,872 in 1996
- 5 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1988 (25 births)
Kristina as a female name
- Ranked #1,732 in 2024
- 117 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1985 (5,566 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kristina appears almost entirely female. Of the 124,534 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kristina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kristina from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 46,125 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
Kristina 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 Kristina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kristinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Kristina, while Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,634 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kristina
The name Kristina is derived from the Latin name Christina, which itself is the feminine form of the masculine name Christianus, meaning "a Christian" or "follower of Christ". The name has its roots in the ancient Greek word "Christos", meaning "the anointed one", referring to Jesus Christ.
Kristina is a variant spelling predominantly used in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, as well as in some Slavic countries like Russia and Poland. The name gained popularity in these regions during the Middle Ages, following the spread of Christianity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kristina can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which date back to the 13th century. The name was also mentioned in various religious texts and chronicles throughout the medieval period.
In the 14th century, Saint Christina of Bolsena, an Italian mystic and stigmatic, lived from around 1150 to 1198. Her life and miracles were widely celebrated in the Catholic Church, contributing to the spread of the name.
Queen Christina of Sweden, born in 1626, was one of the most famous historical figures to bear the name Kristina. She reigned as the Queen of Sweden from 1632 to 1654 and was known for her patronage of the arts and her eventual conversion to Catholicism.
Another notable Kristina was Kristina Gyllenstierna, a Swedish noble and political figure who lived from 1494 to 1559. She played a significant role in the struggles between Denmark and Sweden during the 16th century.
In the realm of literature, Kristina Galkina was a Russian writer and poet who lived from 1766 to 1828. She was a prominent figure in the Russian literary circles of her time and is remembered for her contributions to the development of Russian poetry.
Kristina Nilsson, a Swedish operatic soprano born in 1843, was one of the most celebrated opera singers of the 19th century. She performed in major opera houses across Europe and was particularly renowned for her interpretations of Wagner's operas.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who bore the name Kristina, reflecting its enduring popularity across various cultures and time periods.
People
Kristina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kristina 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
Kristina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kristina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 126,474 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kristina 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 2,710 US residents.
Is Kristina a common name?
We classify Kristina as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 136,992 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kristina most popular?
The single biggest year for Kristina was 1985, when 5,584 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kristina is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kristina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 124,530 people with the name Kristina, or 41.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #457 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 Kristina 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 Kristina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kristina appears almost entirely female. Of the 124,534 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 Kristina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kristina is White at 77.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Kristina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kristina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (97,021 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 Kristina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kristina a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Kristina 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 Kristina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kristina 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 Kristina 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 Kristina?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Kristina on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.