Girls' name · peaked in 1991
Kirsten name popularity since 1925
53,393 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kirsten. Half of them were born in 1990 or earlier, so the typical Kirsten is about 36 years old in 2026. Kirsten peaked in 1991 as the #154 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 53,393
- Named Kirsten, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,841 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 53,181 girls · 212 boys
- Most popular in
- Minnesota
- 1.95× its national share
Peak year is the year Kirsten made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Kirsten births per year, 1925–2025
1991 was the biggest year for Kirsten both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1958 and 1963, Kirsten became 4.5× more common, from 1 in 14,500 baby girls to 1 in 3,220.
- Steepest fall: Between 2005 and 2010, its share of baby girls fell by 67%, from 1 in 1,840 to 1 in 5,570.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kirsten's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kirsten.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kirsten in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 40 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 297 | 0 | #1,721 |
| 1950s | 813 | 0 | #1,123 |
| 1960s | 6,662 | 24 | #358 |
| 1970s | 8,263 | 73 | #303 |
| 1980s | 8,741 | 66 | #319 |
| 1990s | 16,882 | 37 | #180 |
| 2000s | 9,337 | 12 | #322 |
| 2010s | 1,809 | 0 | #1,715 |
| 2020–25 | 337 | 0 | #2,841 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
38.0% of babies named Kirsten from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Kirsten is most popular
The index compares Kirsten's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Kirsten.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 1.95× | 1,805 |
| Washington | 1.89× | 1,605 |
| Oregon | 1.82× | 867 |
| Utah | 1.69× | 729 |
| Colorado | 1.53× | 961 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kirsten and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Kirsten (this page) | 53,181 | 1991 |
| Kristen | 218,767 | 1982 |
| Kirstin | 8,778 | 1991 |
| Kirstyn | 2,309 | 1990 |
| Kyrsten | 1,995 | 1992 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kirsten's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kirsten.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kirsten (1991).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data