Name Awesome

Christen

#9,588 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

A Christian person, a Christian, through Christian

Christen has been given to 13,706 babies in the U.S. since 1910. In 2025 it ranked #9,588 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1982, with 569 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 84% girls, 16% boys all-time.

Babies named Christen, 2025

1 in 332,000

Christen over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Christen over time

In 2025, Christen went to 50% girls and 50% boys.

19102025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Christen: meaning, origin, and history

A Christian person, a Christian, through Christian

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Christen means

Christen belongs to the name family reached through Christen → Christian → Chrīstiānus. Its meaning is “a Christian person, a Christian”.

Origin, language, and formation

Christen is used in Danish.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Christian and Chrīstiānus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11,521 girls were recorded with the name Christen between 1910 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 569 in 1982; its best national rank was #405 in 1982.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,691 in 2020 to #9,588 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,242 in 2015 to #9,588 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,185 boys were recorded with the name Christen between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 61 in 1991; its best national rank was #1,252 in 1984.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,443 in 2020 to #7,771 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,000 in 2015 to #7,771 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Christen?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 332,000
10 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 161,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#9,588
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
229,791 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Christen sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 229,791 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Christen. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Christens were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Christen was born before 1985 — so the typical Christen is around 40 today.

Median birth year
1985
About 40 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
41.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
9.8%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
11,188
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 41.2% of all recorded uses (4,749).

Is Christen rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+860
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,897
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−5,346
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.29×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
1.8%
Peak was 1982 (569)
Years since peak
43
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#405
1982

Spellings of Christen

Christen is not the most common spelling — Christine is, with 37.4% against Christen's 0.74%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Christen is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Christen was most concentrated in Florida — about 1 in 10,000 girls, against 1 in 17,547 across all states with data. It was least common in West Virginia (1 in —).

010 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Florida1 in 10,000
  2. 2Louisiana1 in 10,000
  3. 3Alabama1 in 11,111
  4. 4Georgia1 in 11,111
  5. 5South Carolina1 in 11,111
  6. 6Tennessee1 in 11,111
  7. 7Mississippi1 in 12,500
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 12,500

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Christen has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Christen is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Christen was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 242,558 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Texas1 in 100,000
  3. 3Florida1 in —
  4. 4Georgia1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6Louisiana1 in —
  7. 7Michigan1 in —
  8. 8North Carolina1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Christen has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Christen around the world

Where Christen ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2003
    #4,373
    in 2003
  • France
    1991–2009
    #6,315
    in 2009
  • Canada
    1991–2006
    #2,587
    in 2006
  • South Australia
    1972–2002
    #730
    in 2002

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Christen

People whose public names include Christen, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Christen in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Christen. Linked forms have their own page here.

KristenKristianChristianChr.Chrétien

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Christen by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#9,588
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,897
Best rank ever
#405
1982
Peak year
1982
569 that year
First recorded
1910
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
11,521
Count in 2025
10

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#7,771
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,328
Best rank ever
#1,252
1984
Peak year
1991
61 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,185
Count in 2025
10

Names similar to Christen

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ChristalChrystalChristinChristianChristieKierstenChristianaChrissyChristaChristynChristelChristiChrystenChrislynChristeneChristyTristenChristanChristenaChristeenKirstenChristiannaChrissieChristopher

Names with a curve like Christen

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Christen, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

RachealTiffanieJaimieKristalJaymeJenaKristynKandiceNikitaElishaAleshaCasie

Sibling names for Christen

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Christen

Top names of 1982, Christen's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1982Girls' names starting with CDanish NamesUncommon Danish Boy Names