Christina
Meaning
from Christiana, the Latin feminine form of Christian, 'a Christian'
The story
Christina comes from Christiana, the Latin feminine form of Christian, and Behind the Name gives it two anchor bearers: an early, possibly legendary, saint tormented by her pagan father, and the seventeenth-century Swedish queen and patron of the arts who gave up her crown to become a Roman Catholic. The American ledger tells a giant's story in plain numbers: about 1,260 girls in the 1890s, about 8,800 in the 1940s, about 19,800 in the 1950s, about 52,800 in the 1960s, about 125,700 in the 1970s and about 146,000 in the 1980s, then the long descent, about 74,700 in the 1990s down to about 2,500 so far this decade. Brazil holds about 1,980 with a median age of fifty-three. A saint, a queen who walked away, and a ledger that needed six digits.
Christina around the world
One shared root links 18 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Latin Christianus, "a Christian" (Christos, "anointed", at the root), with Christina as its feminine and an entire Nordic branch of spellings
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Christina peaked in the 1980s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,975 people · the #5,158 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 100,000 · median age 53
Among people named Christina living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Christina
Most people given the name Christina in the United States were born between 1970 and 1999. The Christina you meet today is most often in her 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Christina deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Christina truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Christina fits with your family’s names and surname.
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