NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Kirstyn

A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "follower of Christ".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2010. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Kirstyn is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Kirstyn popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2010 in this profile. In that release it ranked #5707, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1998, with 14 births.

This profile covers 91 England and Wales registrations across 13 recorded years from 1996 to 2010. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 21% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 216 living people in the UK are called Kirstyn. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2011 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Kirstyn ranked #5707 for girls in England and Wales in 2010, with 3 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 1998, when 14 girls were registered as Kirstyn.
  • Kirstyn ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #377 in 2005.
  • About 216 living people in the UK are estimated to have Kirstyn as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#5707

2010

Births in 2010

3

Latest year

Peak year

1998

14 births

Estimated living

216

2026

Meaning

What does Kirstyn mean?

The name Kirstyn is a variant spelling of the feminine given name Kirsten, which is derived from the ancient Norse name Kristin. Kristin itself comes from the Latin name Christiana, meaning "a Christian" or "a follower of Christ." This name was originally used among early Christian communities in Europe during the Middle Ages.

The earliest known written record of the name Kristin dates back to the 12th century in Scandinavia, where it was commonly used in countries like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It's believed that the name spread throughout Northern Europe during the Viking Age, as Norse explorers and settlers brought their names and cultural traditions with them.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Kirstyn can be found in the 13th century, when a Norwegian woman named Kirstyn Hakonsdatter was mentioned in historical records as the daughter of King Håkon IV of Norway. She lived from around 1234 to 1262.

In the 16th century, a woman named Kirstyn Sorensdatter was recorded as being one of the first European settlers in Greenland, having arrived there in 1578 with her husband and children. She is notable for being among the earliest known European women to give birth in the Arctic region.

Moving forward to the 17th century, Kirstyn Tovey was an English woman born in 1620 who became one of the first settlers in the British colony of Virginia. She arrived in Virginia in 1635 and is recorded as having lived in the Jamestown settlement.

In the 18th century, Kirstyn Gordon was a Scottish noblewoman who played a role in the Jacobite risings, which were a series of uprisings aimed at restoring the House of Stuart to the British throne. She was born in 1718 and was known for her support of the Jacobite cause.

Another notable figure in history was Kirstyn Delafield, an English painter and artist who lived from 1787 to 1858. She is remembered for her portraiture and landscape paintings, many of which are held in collections in Britain.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Kirstyn over time

The chart below shows babies named Kirstyn registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2010. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Kirstyn, the clearest high point is 1998. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2010, compared with 14 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Kirstyn
0471114199620032010

Decades

Kirstyn by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Kirstyn was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2010s #5707 3 1
2000s #3255 44 8
1990s #1601 44 4

Geography

Where Kirstyn is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Kirstyn. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Kirstyn ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #377 in 2005.

Northern Ireland
3
Scotland
3

Across the UK

Kirstyn in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#815 in 2012

21 years of NRS records, 120 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#377 in 2005

2 years of NISRA records, 7 total registered

Related

Names similar to Kirstyn

FAQ

Kirstyn: questions and answers

How popular is the name Kirstyn in the UK right now?

In 2010, Kirstyn was ranked #5707 for girls in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.

When was Kirstyn most popular?

The peak year on record was 1998, with 14 babies registered as Kirstyn in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Kirstyn?

A feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "follower of Christ".

How many people are called Kirstyn in the UK?

A total of 91 babies have been registered as Kirstyn across the 13 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 120 more in Scotland and 7 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Kirstyn most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Kirstyn ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #377 in 2005. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.