How popular is the baby name Christian in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Christian.

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Popularity of the baby name Christian


Posts that mention the name Christian

Popular baby names in Italy, 2022

Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy

The country of Italy — which includes not only the boot-shaped Italian peninsula, but also various Mediterranean islands (including the two largest, Sicily and Sardinia) — shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.

In 2022, Italy welcomed 393,333 babies — 190,493 girls and 202,840 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo, for the fifth year in a row.

Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 5,465 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 4,900
  3. Giulia, 4,198
  4. Ginevra, 3,846
  5. Vittoria, 3,814
  6. Beatrice, 3,333 – pronounced beh-a-TREE-cheh
  7. Alice, 3,154 – pronounced a-LEE-cheh
  8. Ludovica, 3,103
  9. Emma, 2,800
  10. Matilde, 2,621
  11. Anna, 2,284
  12. Camilla, 2,253
  13. Chiara, 2,120 – pronounced KYAH-rah
  14. Giorgia, 2,089
  15. Bianca, 2,042
  16. Nicole, 2,001
  17. Greta, 1,929
  18. Gaia, 1,736
  19. Martina, 1,729
  20. Azzurra, 1,717
  21. Arianna, 1,560
  22. Sara, 1,542
  23. Noemi, 1,528
  24. Isabel, 1,420
  25. Rebecca, 1,394
  26. Chloe, 1,359
  27. Adele, 1,356
  28. Mia, 1,329
  29. Elena, 1,277
  30. Diana, 1,207
  31. Francesca, 1,145
  32. Ambra, 1,130
  33. Gioia, 1,123
  34. Cecilia, 1,119
  35. Viola, 1,100
  36. Elisa, 1,030
  37. Marta, 1,023
  38. Emily, 1,022
  39. Carlotta, 954
  40. Margherita, 918
  41. Sole, 916 – pronounced SOH-leh
  42. Anita, 879
  43. Maria, 876
  44. Eleonora, 866
  45. Amelia, 861
  46. Alessia, 851
  47. Nina, 831
  48. Luna, 828
  49. Giada, 818
  50. Sophie, 789

Boy Names

  1. Leonardo, 7,888 baby boys
  2. Francesco, 4,823
  3. Tommaso, 4,795
  4. Edoardo, 4,748
  5. Alessandro, 4,729
  6. Lorenzo, 4,493
  7. Mattia, 4,374
  8. Gabriele, 4,062
  9. Riccardo, 3,753
  10. Andrea, 3,604
  11. Diego, 2,824
  12. Nicolò, 2,747
  13. Matteo, 2,744
  14. Giuseppe, 2,735
  15. Federico, 2,563
  16. Antonio, 2,562
  17. Enea, 2,314
  18. Samuele, 2,230
  19. Giovanni, 2,173
  20. Pietro, 2,130
  21. Filippo, 2,018
  22. Davide, 1,830
  23. Giulio, 1,711
  24. Gioele, 1,695
  25. Christian, 1,653
  26. Michele, 1,612
  27. Gabriel, 1,533
  28. Luca, 1,464
  29. Marco, 1,433
  30. Elia, 1,418
  31. Salvatore, 1,417
  32. Vincenzo, 1,353
  33. Liam, 1,269
  34. Thomas, 1,259
  35. Emanuele, 1,220
  36. Noah, 1,200
  37. Alessio, 1,164
  38. Samuel, 1,140
  39. Nathan, 1,112
  40. Giacomo, 1,101
  41. Jacopo, 1,033
  42. Giorgio, 1,025
  43. Simone, 1,014
  44. Ettore, 1,008
  45. Luigi, 999
  46. Manuel, 996
  47. Damiano, 982
  48. Daniele, 930
  49. Domenico, 872
  50. Daniel, 869

I’d like to thank reader Daniele, who not only alerted me that Italy’s rankings came out early this year, but also generously offered explanations for a few of the fastest-rising names: Sole, Soleil, and Sophie.

Sole (Italian for “sun”), which was rarely used in the early 2000s, started picking up steam in the mid-2010s. Last year, it jumped into the top 50 for the first time. Daniele said that Sole’s rise “has been fueled by a few celebrity baby names.”

Graph of the usage of the baby name Sole in Italy since 1999
Usage of the baby name Sole in Italy

Sophie and Soleil (French for “sun”) are linked to influencers/TV personalities Sophie Codegoni and Soleil Sorge. Both women participated in the 6th season (2021-2022) of Grande Fratello VIP, which is the celebrity version of Grande Fratello (Italy’s Big Brother).

Graph of the usage of the baby name Sophie in Italy since 1999
Usage of the baby name Sophie in Italy

Soleil Sorge had become famous a few years earlier when she appeared on the 21st season (2016-2017) of the dating reality TV show Uomini e Donne (translation: Men and Women). Her name debuted in the Italian data in 2017:

  • 2022: 474 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2021: 144 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2020: 98 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2019: 104 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2018: 78 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
  • 2017: 74 baby girls named Soleil in Italy [debut]
  • 2016: unlisted
  • 2015: unlisted

(Italy’s baby name data — just like the U.S. data — includes only names given to five or more babies per year.)

Thank you so much, Daniele! :)

Other names currently on the rise in Italy include:

  • Luna, Mariasole, Anastasia, Diana, Celeste (girl names)
  • Ludovico, Ethan, Noah, Liam, Achille, Dylan, Enea (boy names)

Finally, here are Italy’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: How many babies are named…? – Istat, Istat Statistics, Soleil Sorge – Wikipedia, Uomini e donne – Italian Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain). Graphs from Istat.

Popular baby names in Norway, 2022

Flag of Norway
Flag of Norway

Last year, the Scandinavian country of Norway (which shares a border with three other countries: Sweden, Finland, and Russia) welcomed 51,480 babies — over 25,000 girls and nearly 26,500 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Nora for girls, and tie between Jakob and Noah for boys.

Here are Norway’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Nora/Norah/Noora, 359 baby girls
  2. Emma, 337
  3. Olivia, 331
  4. Ella, 326
  5. Sofie/Sophie, 315
  6. Leah/Lea, 288
  7. Frida, 269
  8. Iben, 266 (tie)
  9. Sofia/Sophia, 266 (tie)
  10. Sara/Sarah/Zara, 262
  11. Maja/Maya/Maia, 258
  12. Ingrid, 253
  13. Alma, 249
  14. Selma, 247
  15. Emilie, 243
  16. Ada, 242
  17. Astrid/Astri, 235
  18. Hedda, 233
  19. Anna, 218
  20. Amalie, 211
  21. Ellinor, 210
  22. Aurora, 208
  23. Hedvig, 205
  24. Tiril/Tirill, 203
  25. Hanna/Hannah, 198
  26. Eva, 195
  27. Jenny, 186
  28. Mia, 184
  29. Vilde, 180
  30. Mathilde/Matilde, 177
  31. Ida, 176
  32. Lilly/Lily, 172
  33. Linnea/Linea/Linnéa, 163 (tie)
  34. Live, 163 (tie)
  35. Marie, 151
  36. Ellie, 150
  37. Sigrid, 149
  38. Thea, 145
  39. Julie, 143
  40. Amelia, 142 (tie)
  41. Luna, 142 (tie)
  42. Amanda, 141 (tie)
  43. Solveig, 141 (tie)
  44. Tuva, 139
  45. Mie, 133
  46. Agnes, 131
  47. Josefine/Josephine, 129
  48. Hermine, 121 (3-way tie)
  49. Signe, 121 (3-way tie)
  50. Ylva, 121 (3-way tie) – based on the Old Norse word ulfr, meaning “wolf.”

Boy Names

  1. Jakob/Jacob, 414 baby boys (tie)
  2. Noah/Noa, 414 (tie)
  3. Emil, 405 (tie)
  4. Lucas/Lukas, 405 (tie)
  5. Oliver, 382
  6. Isak/Isac/Isaac, 381
  7. William, 348
  8. Filip/Philip/Fillip/Phillip, 343
  9. Aksel/Axel, 321 (tie)
  10. Theodor/Teodor, 321 (tie)
  11. Ludvig/Ludvik, 310
  12. Oskar/Oscar, 300
  13. Liam, 282
  14. Johannes, 280
  15. Elias, 277
  16. Kasper/Casper/Kacper, 276
  17. Magnus, 270 (tie)
  18. Tobias, 270 (tie)
  19. Henrik, 263
  20. Mathias/Matias, 247 (tie)
  21. Olav, 247 (tie)
  22. Viktor/Victor/Wiktor, 235
  23. Ulrik, 230
  24. Matheo, 223
  25. Adam, 215
  26. Gustav, 208
  27. Muhammad/Mohammad/Mohammed/Mohamed/Muhammed, 206
  28. Sander, 205
  29. Alfred, 203
  30. Håkon/Haakon, 201 (tie)
  31. Theo/Teo, 201 (tie)
  32. Herman/Hermann, 185
  33. Benjamin, 179
  34. Jonas, 178
  35. Mikkel, 174
  36. Odin, 165
  37. Birk, 164
  38. Johan, 163 (tie)
  39. Leon, 163 (tie)
  40. Felix, 162
  41. Even, 157 (tie)
  42. Sebastian, 157 (tie)
  43. Vetle, 156 – based on the Old Norse word vetrliði, meaning “winter-farer,” and, by extension, “bear cub” (i.e., a bear that has lived one winter).
  44. Iver, 155
  45. Leo, 150
  46. Jens, 144 (tie)
  47. Markus/Marcus, 144 (tie)
  48. Alexander/Aleksander, 140
  49. Kristian/Christian, 133
  50. Sverre, 132 – based on the Old Norse verb sverra, meaning “to spin or swirl about,” and, by extension, “troublemaker.”

The two fastest-climbing names were Birk, which rose from 70th to 37th on the boys’ list, and Hedvig, which rose from 38th to 23rd on the girls’ list.

Home to more than 5.4 million people, Norway is — at the moment — divided into 11 administrative regions, or “counties.” (The original 19 counties were reduced to 11 in 2020; the current 11 counties will be expanded to 15 in 2024.)

Map of the 11 administrative regions of Norway
Norway’s 11 administrative regions

The top baby names within each of Norway’s 11 counties last year were…

Girl namesBoy names
Viken1. Olivia, 85
2. Leah, 76
3. Ella, 75
4. Emma, 71
5. Ingrid, 67
1. Noah, 102
2. Oliver, 97
3. Jakob, 95
4. Theodor, 88
5. Filip/Lucas/Oskar, 81 each (3-way tie)
Oslo1. Sofia, 63
2. Hedvig, 56
3. Nora, 50
4. Sofie, 48
5. Ada/Anna, 47 each (tie)
1. Mohammad, 77
2. Jakob, 65
3. Olav, 59
4. Noah, 57 (tie)
5. William, 57 (tie)
Vestland1. Ella, 52
2. Nora, 51
3. Emma, 50
4. Sara, 43
5. Sofie, 41
1. Emil, 61
2. Jakob, 53
3. Oliver, 48
4. Ulrik, 47
5. Lucas, 44
Rogaland1. Sara, 37
2. Frida, 36
3. Maja, 32 (3-way tie)
4. Nora, 32 (3-way tie)
5. Sofie, 32 (3-way tie)
1. Emil, 43
2. Noah, 42
3. Filip, 38 (tie)
4. Oliver, 38 (tie)
5. Lucas, 35
Trøndelag1. Selma, 33
2. Ada, 32 (4-way tie)
3. Emma, 32 (4-way tie)
4. Leah, 32 (4-way tie)
5. Nora, 32 (4-way tie)
1. Emil, 50
2. Oliver, 47
3. Aksel, 46 (tie)
4. Isak, 46 (tie)
5. Magnus, 38
Vestfold og Telemark1. Nora, 30
2. Olivia, 28
3. Ella, 23
4. Iben, 21
5. Emma/Sofie, 20 each (tie)
1. Emil, 34 (tie)
2. Noah, 34 (tie)
3. Lucas, 33
4. William, 31
5. Jakob, 29
Innlandet1. Aurora, 25 (tie)
2. Sofie, 25 (tie)
3. Ella, 24
4. Emma/Ingrid/Nora/Olivia, 22 each (4-way tie)
1. Emil, 35
2. Lucas, 31
3. Magnus, 29
4. Filip, 28
5. Oliver, 25
Agder1. Emma, 31 (tie)
2. Olivia, 31 (tie)
3. Nora, 27
4. Ella, 26
5. Leah, 24
1. Lucas, 40
2. Isak, 27 (tie)
3. Theodor, 27 (tie)
4. Henrik, 26 (tie)
5. Noah, 26 (tie)
Møre og Romsdal1. Anna, 18 (tie)
2. Nora, 18 (tie)
3. Olivia, 17 (tie)
4. Selma, 17 (tie)
5. Alma/Aurora/Emma, 16 each (3-way tie)
1. Noah, 26
2. Kasper, 22
3. Emil, 20 (tie)
4. Isak, 20 (tie)
5. Lucas, 19
Troms og Finnmark1. Ella, 18
2. Anna, 16
3. Amalie/Astrid/Emilie/Maja/Olivia/Sigrid, 14 each (6-way tie)
1. Jakob, 27
2. Isak, 25
3. Emil, 23
4. Johannes, 22
5. Elias, 19
Nordland1. Nora, 21
2. Ella, 15 (tie)
3. Iben, 15 (tie)
4. Emma/Frida/Ingrid/Signe, 12 each (4-way tie)
1. Isak, 29
2. Jakob, 24
3. Filip/Henrik/William, 17 each (3-way tie)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum?

Single-use names were given to nearly 8% of the baby girls and 7% of the baby boys born in Norway last year. We don’t have access to these unique names — the country doesn’t release names given to three or fewer babies per year (due to privacy concerns) — but here’s a selection of the names given to four babies:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Aase, Agathe, Annabelle, Anneli, Anny, Aud, Azra, Bjørg, Borghild, Cassandra, Cecilia, Daria, Eden, Elizabeth, Emely, Felicia, Gabrielle, Grete, Helen, Helin, Henrikke, Irina, Kamila, Kate, Kaya, Leni, Lidia, Marita, Martyna, Nadine, Norunn, Ragne, Ruby, Savannah, Signy, Silvia, Solvår, SylviaAbbas, Abdul, Adem, Ahmet, Ammar, Ansgar, Are, Arvid, Bogdan, Brynjar, Christer, Dani, Denis, Evald, Fred, Haris, Hassan, Hauk, Hubert, Hussain, Idar, Ingmar, Jamal, Jaran, Jarl, Kenan, Mahad, Mattias, Mehdi, Morgan, Niclas, Nikola, Oddvar, Olivier, Ove, Ravn, Roald, Rolf, Rune, Sean, Sigvald, Stanislaw, Steinar, Svein, Søren, Tønnes, Viggo, Wojciech, Yasin, Yosef, Youssef

Finally, here’s a link to Norway’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Navn – Statistics Norway, Sjekk listen over de mest populære navnene i 2022 – Statistics Norway, Uvanlige navn – før og nå – Statistics Norway, Births – Statistics Norway, Regions of Norway – Wikipedia, Counties of Norway – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Norway (public domain)
Map: Nye fylker by Furfur (public domain)

Popular baby names in Denmark, 2022

Flag of Denmark
Flag of Denmark

Denmark is second-most populous Nordic country, after Sweden. (The three smaller Nordic countries are Finland, Norway, and Iceland.)

Last year, Denmark welcomed 58,430 babies. The most popular names among these babies? Ella and William.

Here are Denmark’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Ella, 442 baby girls
  2. Freja, 413
  3. Alma, 409
  4. Frida, 403
  5. Agnes, 389
  6. Luna, 383
  7. Ida, 381
  8. Nora, 378
  9. Olivia, 377
  10. Sofia, 376
  11. Emma, 375
  12. Clara, 361
  13. Asta, 358
  14. Alberte, 337 (tie)
  15. Karla, 337 (tie)
  16. Lily, 321
  17. Ellie, 320
  18. Anna, 315
  19. Ellen, 303
  20. Esther, 292
  21. Astrid, 238
  22. Isabella, 235
  23. Lærke, 234
  24. Josefine, 231
  25. Laura, 226
  26. Mathilde, 220
  27. Emily, 215 (tie)
  28. Mille, 215 (tie)
  29. Merle, 207
  30. Saga, 201
  31. Victoria, 199
  32. Aya, 197 (tie)
  33. Maja, 197 (tie)
  34. Marie, 192
  35. Vera, 191
  36. Leonora, 181
  37. Hannah, 179
  38. Vilma, 176
  39. Andrea, 165
  40. Liva, 160
  41. Liv, 159
  42. Elina, 158
  43. Lea, 156 (tie)
  44. Molly, 156 (tie)
  45. Gry, 153
  46. Eva, 151
  47. Johanne, 149
  48. Ingrid, 146 (tie)
  49. Rosa, 146 (tie)
  50. Emilie, 137

Boy Names

  1. William, 560 baby boys
  2. Karl, 466
  3. Emil, 459
  4. Oscar, 455
  5. Malthe, 452
  6. Noah, 446
  7. Valdemar, 432
  8. Aksel, 428
  9. August, 398 (tie)
  10. Oliver, 398 (tie)
  11. Lucas, 396
  12. Alfred, 391
  13. Theo, 376
  14. Elias, 370
  15. Arthur, 364
  16. Otto, 332
  17. Elliot, 325
  18. Felix, 314
  19. Victor, 299
  20. Magnus, 296
  21. Hugo, 281
  22. Viggo, 277
  23. Matheo, 276
  24. Louie, 268
  25. Liam, 258
  26. Lauge, 257
  27. Anton, 252
  28. Theodor, 246
  29. Anker, 234
  30. Konrad, 233
  31. Nohr, 219
  32. Holger, 214
  33. Frederik, 205
  34. Alexander, 192
  35. Adam, 187
  36. Erik, 186
  37. Storm, 183
  38. Ebbe, 182 (tie)
  39. Luca, 182 (tie)
  40. Vincent, 174
  41. Albert, 173 (tie)
  42. Pelle, 173 (tie)
  43. Milas, 169
  44. Walter, 166
  45. Marius, 164 (tie)
  46. Vilhelm, 164 (tie)
  47. Asger, 161 (tie)
  48. Johan, 161 (tie)
  49. Christian, 159
  50. Villads, 152

The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous regions: Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The top baby names in the Faroes in 2022 were Eva and Bartal (which is related to Bartholomew). Here’s more:

Girl names (Faroes)Boy names (Faroes)
1. Eva, 7 baby girls
2. Anna, 5 (4-way tie)
3. Elvira, 5 (4-way tie)
4. Olivia, 5 (4-way tie)
5. Sólja, 5 (4-way tie)
6. Bára, 4 (7-way tie)
7. Bjarta, 4 (7-way tie)
8. Bjørg, 4 (7-way tie)
9. Lilja, 4 (7-way tie)
10. Lív, 4 (7-way tie)
11. Ronja, 4 (7-way tie)
12. Tóra, 4 (7-way tie)
1. Bartal, 7 baby boys
2. Baldur, 5 (7-way tie)
3. Brandur, 5 (7-way tie)
4. Kristian, 5 (7-way tie)
5. Lukas, 5 (7-way tie)
6. Niels, 5 (7-way tie)
7. Nóa, 5 (7-way tie)
8. Rókur, 5 (7-way tie)
9. Gilli, 4 (4-way tie)
10. Mattias, 4 (4-way tie)
11. Ragnar, 4 (4-way tie)
12. Tóki, 4 (4-way tie)

Names used a single time in the Faroes last year include the girl names Døgg (“dew”) and Royða (“tufa“) and the boy names Bogi (“bow”) and Sproti (“sprout”).

Greenland’s top baby names of 2022, on the other hand, are still unknown at this point. Why? Because whoever edited the country’s English-language statistical booklet, Greenland in Figures 2023 [PDF], forgot to update the small section about baby names on page seven. :)

In 2021, the top baby names in Denmark were Alma and Oscar, the top baby names in the Faroes were Lea/Lív and Jónas, and the top baby names in Greenland were Lea/Luna and Aputsiaq/Marco.

Sources: Names of newborn children – Statistics Denmark, Births – Statistics Denmark, Nordic Countries – Wikipedia, Statistical Database (Names) – Hagstova Føroya, Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Denmark (public domain)

What gave the baby name Christiaan a boost in 1968?

South African cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001)
Dr. Christiaan Barnard

The baby name Christiaan (pronounced KRIS-tee-ahn) — the Dutch and Afrikaans form of Christian — saw peak usage in the U.S. in two different years: 1968 and 1970.

  • 1972: 22 baby boys named Christiaan
  • 1971: 30 baby boys named Christiaan
  • 1970: 43 baby boys named Christiaan
  • 1969: 24 baby boys named Christiaan
  • 1968: 43 baby boys named Christiaan
  • 1967: 8 baby boys named Christiaan
  • 1966: unlisted

The name’s 1968 upswing represents the second-steepest rise among baby boy names that year (after Dustin).

Here’s the graph:

Graph of the usage of the first name Christiaan in the U.S. since 1880.
Usage of the first name Christiaan

What was calling attention to the name Christiaan in the late ’60s and early ’70s?

South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who made headlines worldwide after performing the first human heart transplant on December 3, 1967, at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

Dr. Barnard led a team of 20 surgeons as they transplanted a heart from the body of donor Denise Darvall (a 25-year-old woman who’d been fatally injured in a car accident) into the body of recipient Louis Washkansky (a 55-year-old man terminally ill with heart disease).

The operation was considered a success, even though Washkansky died of pneumonia 18 days later.

The transplant attracted unprecedented media coverage, turning Dr. Barnard into an overnight celebrity:

Charismatic and photogenic, he appeared on magazine covers, met dignitaries and film stars, drawing crowds and photographers wherever he went.

Dr. Barnard performed a second human heart transplant on January 2, 1968 — just one month after the first. The second recipient, 59-year-old Philip Blaiberg, not only survived the operation, but lived for another 19 months and 15 days before dying of organ rejection in August of 1969.

The success of this second operation “secured the future of heart transplants.” It also likely caused the usage of Christiaan to peak again in 1970.

(That said, news about Dr. Barnard’s personal life may have also been a factor. He divorced his wife of twenty years, Aletta, in mid-1969 and married a 19-year-old Johannesburg socialite named Barbara Zoellner in early 1970.)

I’m not sure how many of the baby boys named Christiaan during the late ’60s and early ’70s were taught to pronounce their names KRIS-tee-ahn, as I couldn’t find any clips of U.S. newscasters using the Afrikaans pronunciation. Even talk show host Dick Cavett defaulted to the American pronunciation, KRIS-chen, when Dr. Christiaan Barnard appeared on The Dick Cavett Show [vid] in May of 1970.

What are your thoughts on the name Christiaan?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Professor Barnard photo by Jac. de Nijs via Nationaal Archief under CC0.