Recorded 1938–2025 · United States
Kristen was most popular in 1982, when 9,596 American babies were given the name — ranking #77 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,405, with 106 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 220,952 people named Kristen.
Kristen first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1938, which makes it about 87 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 88 of the 88 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 220,952 American births named Kristen 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 212,507 are estimated to be alive today.
106 American babies were named Kristen in 2025, ranking #3,405 that year.
Kristen is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 143 births a year, against 389 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -63% 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 Kristen is a girl’s name — 99.0% of the 220,952 Americans given it were girls and 1.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 94% girls and 6% 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 212,507 Americans named Kristen are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 41 years old, and half are between 34 and 49.
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.
Danish · form of Christine
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Kristen on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org