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Chris - Origin and Meaning of the name

Meaning of the name Chris

[ 1 syll. (c)hris, ch-r-is ] The boy name Chris is also used, but less often, as a girl name. Its pronunciation is KRIHS KEY. Chris is used predominantly in the English language, and it is derived from Latin and Old Greek origins. From the short form of other given names, but now used as an independent name in its own right. The name Kris (English, Scandinavian, and German) is a variant of Chris.

In addition, Chris is a short form (English) of the name Christian (English, French, German, and Scandinavian).

Chris is also a short form of the name Christopher (English).

Chris is a classic favorite. Today it is still fairly popular as a baby name for boys, though it was in more widespread use in the past. The name's popularity rose from the 1910s up to the 1960s. Its usage peaked modestly in 1961 with 0.334% of baby boys being given the name Chris. Its ranking then was #57. The baby name has since experienced a loss in popularity. In 2008, its usage was only 0.043% and its ranking #348. Among the group of boy names directly linked to Chris, Christopher (English) was the most frequently used. In 2008, its use outnumbered Chris' by 19 times. Chris has in the past century been predominantly given to boys. In 1977, 9 times as many boys than girls were given the name Chris.

Baby names that sound like Chris include Cris (English and Spanish), Kris (English, Scandinavian, and German), Kriss (English, German, and Latvian), Craig (English and Scottish), Cruz (English, Portuguese, and Spanish), Kerk (English), Kers, Kirk (English), Kreig (English), Krys (Polish), Kyrk (English), Quirce (Spanish), Karcsi (Hungarian), Kerrick (English), Kerrik (English), Kersey (English), Kraig (English), Kreso (Slavic), Krisus (Latvian), and Kûrush (Iranian).

Details of famous persons named Chris:
Actor Chris Farley, born 15 February 1964 - 18 December 1997, Madison, Wisconsin.
Author Chris Van Allsburg, born 18 June 1949, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Comedian Chris Rock, born 7 February 1966, Georgetown, South Carolina.
Mountaineer Chris Bonington, born Christian John Storey Bonington, 6 August 1934, Hampstead, London, England.
Rock Bandmember Chris Martin, London, England.
Singer Chris Brown, born 5 May 1989, Tappahannock, Virginia.
Singer Chris De Burgh, born Christopher John Davison, 15 October 1948, Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe Province, Argentina.
TV presenter Chris Tarrant, born Christopher John Tarrant, 10 October 1946, Reading, Berkshire, England.

KEY: Pronunciation for Chris: K as in "key (K.IY)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; S as in "sea (S.IY)"


 
Popularity Trend
for Chris
from 1900 to 2008
Variant Popularity Chart
for Chris
in 2008
 

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