Christopher Name Meaning

A hot name in the U.S. since the 1950s, Christopher is an English variant of the Greek Christophoros. While the name’s use has cooled in recent years, he remains a friendly choice for parents seeking something common but not too popular like today’s Liam or Noah.

Christopher exudes boyhood charm thanks in part to literary darling Christopher Robin, the boy companion in Winnie the Pooh. He’s a name that’s naturally curious, retaining his wonder despite his long standing popularity. Playful and daring, little Christopher is the first to climb to the top of the jungle gym and the last one down.

While maybe not as obvious as his cousin Christian, Christopher is a deeply religious name, meaning “bearing Christ.” He may not appear in the Bible, but he’s a wonderful choice for paying homage to your faith. He’s also a saintly name, with Saint Christopher being the patron saint of the lost traveller. As a protector of travellers, he may be a subtle choice for those globetrotting parents with a case of wanderlust.

Christopher offers up plenty of awesome nicknames including Chris, Topher, Kit, and Chip. He also has quite a few spelling variations with Kristoffer and Kristopher leading the pack.

Infographic of Christopher name meaning, which is An English variant of the Greek Christophoros, Christopher means bearing Christ.
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Christopher Name Popularity

How popular is the name Christopher? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 306 33 0.0094%
1911 313 39 0.0105%
1912 292 114 0.0226%
1913 330 113 0.0199%
1914 334 155 0.0222%
1915 340 202 0.0222%
1916 338 214 0.0222%
1917 353 206 0.0206%
1918 352 228 0.0212%
1919 372 201 0.0192%
1920 357 237 0.0213%
1921 345 251 0.0219%
1922 339 260 0.0233%
1923 342 259 0.0231%
1924 349 250 0.0215%
1925 351 237 0.021%
1926 362 222 0.0202%
1927 338 253 0.0229%
1928 358 219 0.0205%
1929 366 207 0.02%
1930 357 220 0.0211%
1931 375 189 0.0191%
1932 371 192 0.0194%
1933 389 155 0.0166%
1934 341 217 0.0224%
1935 339 218 0.0224%
1936 337 224 0.0233%
1937 316 248 0.0252%
1938 321 254 0.0248%
1939 301 309 0.0304%
1940 242 465 0.0437%
1941 217 577 0.0513%
1942 195 783 0.062%
1943 183 872 0.0668%
1944 170 969 0.0782%
1945 160 1,118 0.0917%
1946 150 1,584 0.1073%
1947 126 2,259 0.1353%
1948 102 3,021 0.1892%
1949 81 3,991 0.2481%
1950 72 4,828 0.2999%
1951 61 5,724 0.3376%
1952 57 6,296 0.3607%
1953 63 6,066 0.3427%
1954 64 6,074 0.3323%
1955 49 7,905 0.4298%
1956 47 8,372 0.4433%
1957 43 8,966 0.4659%
1958 39 11,076 0.586%
1959 35 12,903 0.6791%
1960 29 15,357 0.8105%
1961 26 17,226 0.9124%
1962 26 17,524 0.9545%
1963 26 18,356 1.0226%
1964 23 19,637 1.1156%
1965 18 24,635 1.5064%
1966 12 27,877 1.7855%
1967 9 29,425 1.939%
1968 9 31,464 2.0954%
1969 7 35,702 2.3174%
1970 6 41,775 2.625%
1971 6 48,234 3.2099%
1972 2 52,187 3.8316%
1973 2 48,322 3.7273%
1974 3 48,610 3.74%
1975 3 46,592 3.6258%
1976 3 45,213 3.5081%
1977 3 46,744 3.4678%
1978 3 47,259 3.5151%
1979 2 50,678 3.5941%
1980 2 49,092 3.3576%
1981 2 50,233 3.4173%
1982 2 59,225 3.9633%
1983 2 59,343 4.0214%
1984 2 60,023 4.0349%
1985 2 59,600 3.9267%
1986 2 56,682 3.7551%
1987 2 54,489 3.5707%
1988 2 52,996 3.4008%
1989 2 53,176 3.2953%
1990 2 52,332 3.1573%
1991 2 47,101 2.8897%
1992 2 42,461 2.6602%
1993 2 38,228 2.452%
1994 2 34,800 2.2676%
1995 3 32,673 2.1679%
1996 4 30,902 2.0638%
1997 4 29,103 1.9677%
1998 5 27,001 1.804%
1999 6 25,603 1.7097%
2000 5 24,931 1.632%
2001 5 23,123 1.5346%
2002 8 21,681 1.4468%
2003 9 20,746 1.3637%
2004 10 19,626 1.2877%
2005 10 19,165 1.2535%
2006 8 19,678 1.2567%
2007 6 20,012 1.2684%
2008 9 17,941 1.1608%
2009 10 16,346 1.0936%
2010 13 14,273 0.9904%
2011 20 12,995 0.9121%
2012 23 11,892 0.8345%
2013 26 10,849 0.762%
2014 30 10,350 0.7104%
2015 32 9,805 0.6739%
2016 36 9,053 0.6279%
2017 38 8,255 0.5915%
2018 42 7,261 0.5285%
2019 44 6,960 0.5141%
2020 46 6,087 0.4782%
2021 52 5,800 0.4745%
2022 53 5,523 0.4186%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Christopher

If you like Christopher, you’ll love these other names like Christopher.

What names are diminutives of Christopher?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Christopher sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Christopher, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Chris

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christie

Bearing Christ

Scottish

Christof

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christoph

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christophe

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christos

Follower of Christ; bearing Christ

Latin

Cris

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kester

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kit

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kitt

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kris

A diminutive form of Christopher.

Scandinavian

Kriss

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kristo

Follower of Christ; bearing Christ

Latin

Kristos

Bearing Christ

Greek

Stoffel

Bearing Christ

Greek

Tobal

Bearing Christ

Greek

Topher

Bearing Christ

Greek

What names are variants of Christopher?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Christopher.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Christofer

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christoffer

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christoforo

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christoforus

Bearing Christ

Greek

Christophoros

Bearing Christ

Greek

Cristobal

Bearing Christ

Greek

Cristofer

Bearing Christ

Greek

Cristoforo

Bearing Christ

Greek

Cristopher

Bearing Christ

Greek

Cristovano

Bearing Christ

Greek

Khristopher

Bearing Christ

Scandinavian

Kristofel

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kristofer

Bearing Christ

Scandinavian

Kristoffer

Bearing Christ

Scandinavian

Kristofor

Bearing Christ

Scandinavian

Kristoforos

Bearing Christ

Greek

Kristopher

Bearing Christ

Scandinavian

Krzysztof

Bearing Christ

Scandinavian

What names sound like Christopher?

If you like how Christopher sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Christopher.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Christian

Follower of Christ

Latin

Christmas

Christ festival

French

Craig

Rock, rocky

Scottish

Creed

Belief; guiding principle; I believe

Latin

Crew

Group

Latin

Crispin

Curly-haired

Latin

Crispino

Curly-haired

Latin

What names are similar to Christopher?

Find a name that’s like Christopher, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Alexander

Defender of man

Greek

Anthony

Unknown meaning

Latin

Benjamin

A favorite son

Hebrew

Charles

Free man

German

Dominic

Of the Lord

Latin

Jeremiah

God will exalt

Hebrew

Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

Matthew

Gift of God

Hebrew

Michael

Who is Like God?

Hebrew

Nathaniel

God has given

Hebrew

Lists With Christopher

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Christopher.

Siblings of Christopher

Mamas with kids named Christopher also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Karis

Grace

Greek

Katherine

Pure

Greek

Lily

Lily flower

English

Linnea

Lime or linden tree

Scandinavian

Laylonie
Skylar

Noble scholar

English

Harley

Hare meadow; the long field

English

Luke

From Lucania

Greek

Roselee
Fauve

Wild and uninhibited

French

Elijah

My God is Yahweh

Hebrew

Matthew

Gift of God

Hebrew

18 Comments

  1. I chose the name Christopher because he’s named after his father; so now he’s a junior!
    I love the name Christopher because it means Christ bearer.

    I have an older daughter named Jacey. I for her name from a movie called Jacey’s Story The Color of Love. Jacey is Greek origin which means attractive and vivacious girl.

    Reply

  2. We chose Christopher James after he was born with the baby and my sister in the room. I birthed him on Good Friday in a catholic hospital and I liked that Christ was in the name.
    At that moment my husband and I both loved it together which was surprising. We had a really hard time choosing a name we both liked during pregnancy. We didn’t choose my 1st son’s name until we asked him. He essentially became a Junior because he chose it. My husband was against that. He said it would be too confusing. We went through the list we had agreed upon and just kept trying to figure it out. I finally looked at him and said you have to throw in your name. He did and the baby smiled. We couldn’t believe it! We did it again while the baby was fussing and when we hit Matthew James he stopped fussing, we did it a 3rd time and he had no reaction to any other name but his own. He opened his eyes the 3rd time.
    We decided to play the same game with Christopher. The baby did the same thing as Matthew. We knew it was a perfect name!
    I liked the fact that it had Christ in it. I don’t like that it is my sister’s ex-boyfriend’s name who broke her heart. (My husband and I had completely forgot after my 21 hour labor that we had said no to this name because of my sister and her feelings). If you remember from earlier, she was also in the room with us when we chose the name. We asked her what she thought. She hesitated and made a weird face and then said “I love it”! It was set! We couldn’t believe we never thought of that name…duh! The next day my mother-in-law asked my husband how my sister felt about that name. He said she loved it, Why? She said because of her ex. My husband immediately text her to apologize and I was so upset I thought we should change it. She told me and the baby that we were not to change the name under any circumstance.

    Reply

  3. My boyfriend and i agreed that for our first born he can name the baby if it was a boy and vice versa for me if it was a girl. He wanted to name the baby after him, which his name is Christopher but he’s a Jr. already so our son is also Christopher but he’s the third(III) :^) I actually have no dislikes for the name Christopher, i like it alot! also like how its shorten to “Chris” as well! Im so in love with my son & im always smiling when i call him by his first name!

    Reply

  4. Christopher came along as I just lived through the lost of my oldest brother who named him after

    Reply

  5. He is a great baby no problems with him

    Reply

  6. Am bearing the name so i just tink to seach four the name becauses ever body saide the name is lovely

    Reply

    • My mother named me Christopher Ann, and everywhere I go they think I’m a boy. It’s great and fun!

      Reply

  7. I love the name! I love both of my boys names!

    Reply

  8. He is the Third so it is a family name

    Reply

    • Omg!! Same here!! :^)

      Reply

  9. We thought of this name in the hospital and he was my firstborn and his name fits his personality.

    Reply

  10. I chose the name Christopher because that is my husband’s name

    Reply

  11. Meaning: Barer of Christ

    Reply

    • Hopefully ‘bearer’.

      Reply

  12. I chose the name Christopher because my aunt that passed away a year ago her name was Christina very caring loving outspoken unique women her nick name was Chris and so I just put it together n got Christopher I absolutely love it

    Reply

  13. Christopher is my husbands name my son Is a junior.

    Reply

  14. I chose this name after his father. This is his first son and we are happy about that name

    Reply

  15. It means Christ bearer and we prayed that he would be a man of faith.

    Reply

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