Mostly boys · peaked in 1974
Kris name popularity since 1925
27,971 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Kris (48.5% girls, 51.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1966 or earlier, so the typical Kris is about 60 years old in 2026. Kris peaked in 1974 as the #379 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 27,971
- Named Kris, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,218 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 51.5% boys
- 13,571 girls · 14,400 boys
- Most popular in
- Minnesota
- 2.97× its national share
Peak year is the year Kris made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Kris births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1962. Measured as a share of all babies, Kris peaked in 1974.
- Fastest rise: Between 1954 and 1959, Kris became 2.2× more common, from 1 in 9,990 baby boys to 1 in 4,570.
- Steepest fall: Between 1978 and 1983, its share of baby boys fell by 73%, from 1 in 4,320 to 1 in 16,100.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Kris's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Kris.
Decade by decade
Babies named Kris in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 11 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 503 | 422 | #1,314 |
| 1950s | 2,891 | 2,634 | #474 |
| 1960s | 7,158 | 4,152 | #384 |
| 1970s | 2,009 | 3,681 | #439 |
| 1980s | 462 | 1,184 | #921 |
| 1990s | 216 | 667 | #1,484 |
| 2000s | 120 | 748 | #1,796 |
| 2010s | 159 | 646 | #2,266 |
| 2020–25 | 53 | 255 | #3,218 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 boys got the name.
Generation fingerprint
43.3% of babies named Kris from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Kris is most popular
The index compares Kris'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 Kris.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 2.97× | 1,207 |
| Wisconsin | 2.66× | 1,170 |
| Iowa | 2.44× | 693 |
| Washington | 2.28× | 852 |
| Michigan | 2.00× | 1,705 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Kris and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Kris (this page) | 14,400 | 1974 |
| Cris | 2,982 | 1960 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Kris's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Kris.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Kris (1974).
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