Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Chris was most popular in 1961, when 8,774 American babies were given the name — ranking #102 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,304, with 431 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 170,417 people named Chris.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Chris is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 146 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 170,417 American births named Chris between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 137,270 are estimated to be alive today.
431 American babies were named Chris in 2025, ranking #1,304 that year.
Chris is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 408 births a year, against 600 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -32% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Chris is mostly a boy’s name — 13.5% of the 170,417 Americans given it were girls and 86.5% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 1% girls and 99% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 137,270 Americans named Chris are alive today — 81% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 60 years old, and half are between 51 and 66.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Greek · short form of Christopher or Christine
See Chris on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org