Christopher

What Christopher means

Means “carrier of Christ”

From Late Latin Christophorus, from Koine Greek Χρῑστόφορος (Khrīstóphoros, “carrier of Christ”), from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ”) + φόρος (phóros, “carrier, bearer”), from φέρειν (phérein, “to carry, to bear”) + -ος (-os, “-

Source: Wiktionary, “Christopher” (revision 94535510), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Christopher?

US: Falling: down from #32 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #131 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1984, when 60,021 boys got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 360 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,101 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 614 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NM (5.69 per 1,000 boys), MS (5.44 per 1,000 boys), DE (5.43 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Christopher is #68 in the US and #203 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Christopher were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Christofer22 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Christopher

Boys

• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Dennis#707“follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Gregory#593“watchful, vigilant”^*
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Phillip#651Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 6,047 babies; 425 in 2025

For a sister

• Kathryn#729Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Christina#770Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 16,600 babies; 352 in 2025
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Melissa#419“bee, honey, or honeybee”^*
• Nicole#382Form of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Christopher’s. Rank is US 2025.