Greek Christos and pherein, "to carry" — bearing christ. Saint Christopher is said to have carried a child across a river who proved to be Christ.
Christopher ranks 68th among American boys in 2025, with 4,748 born that year. Its best year was 1984, when 60,411 babies were given the name, ranking 2nd. The typical living American called Christopher is about 42 years old today. It is relatively most common in New Mexico, where it accounts for 0.33% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.