Chris
- Pronunciation
- [Ch-ris]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Abbreviation Of Christopher And Christian.
- Origin
- English
About the Name Chris
Chris is the English short form of Christopher or Christian (see separate entries for the Greek Christophoros etymology meaning "Christ-bearer" and the Latin Christianus meaning "follower of Christ"). Chris has been used as a casual diminutive in English-speaking countries since at least the 17th century, transitioning from nickname to standalone first name in 20th-century American naming.
Notable bearers include the iconic American actor Chris Hemsworth (born 1983, the iconic Australian actor of Marvel's Thor films); American actor Chris Evans (born 1981, the iconic American actor of Marvel's Captain America films); American actor Chris Pratt (born 1979, the iconic American actor of Guardians of the Galaxy 2014); American actor Chris Pine (born 1980, the iconic American actor of Star Trek 2009); and American comedian Chris Rock (born 1965, the iconic American comedian).
Chris has been continuously used in American naming for over a century. The name is also occasionally used for girls (often as a short form of Christine or Christina). Chris held a US top-100 boys' rank from 1955 through 2010 — over half a century of consistent American popularity. The name has receded slightly since but remains in steady use, currently sitting in the US top 300 boys' rank. The name's appeal is its compact warm classical-American register — one short syllable, soft consonants, instantly readable, and the in-built Christopher-classical religious anchor. The strong Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, and Chris Rock American cultural anchors maintain the name's contemporary relevance. The name reads as both classical-vintage and contemporary American. Common nicknames are scarce since Chris is itself a nickname-shape — Christy, Topher (back-end shortening from Christopher), and the rare Chrissy each occasionally appear; the longer formal Christopher, Christian, Christine, or Christina are sometimes used as Chris's official-document version. International forms include Cris (Spanish), Cristo (Portuguese), and the broader Christopher/Christian family.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Chris
US Popularity History (1958–2025)
Annual US births named Chris by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1961 with 7,204 boys named Chris (boy rank #57 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #646 for boys (431 US births). That's 589 places below its 1961 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Chris Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Chris the strongest states are Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | #388 | 428 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | #413 | 108 |
| 3 | Connecticut | #424 | 31 |
| 4 | New York | #432 | 362 |
| 5 | New Jersey | #443 | 152 |
| 6 | Iowa | #476 | 20 |
| 7 | California | #481 | 661 |
| 8 | Maryland | #511 | 84 |
| 9 | Kentucky | #591 | 42 |
| 10 | Oregon | #591 | 16 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | #842 | 48 |
| 2 | Michigan | #786 | 63 |
| 3 | Illinois | #784 | 84 |
| 4 | Georgia | #781 | 93 |
| 5 | North Carolina | #761 | 102 |
| 6 | Missouri | #760 | 47 |
| 7 | Tennessee | #736 | 59 |
| 8 | Washington | #733 | 40 |
| 9 | Arizona | #704 | 64 |
| 10 | Virginia | #671 | 83 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Chris in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cris | Variant Abbreviation Of Christopher And Christian. | Male | Spanish |
Famous People Named Chris
10 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Chris.
- Chris Christie — Politician (1962)
- Chris Columbus — Director (1958)
- Chris Cornell — Rock Singer (1964)
- Chris Daughtry — Rock Singer (1979)
- Chris Farley — Movie Actor (1964)
- Chris Froome — Cyclist (1985)
- Chris LeDoux — Country Singer (1948)
- Chris Martin — Pop Singer (1977)
- Chris Matthews — Football Player (1945)
- Chris Morris is a British radio personality, television anchor, director & satirist.
Looking for names like Chris?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Chris to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Chris against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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