Kris

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Chris in US United States, GB United Kingdom, AU Australia and 16 more, Cris in PH Philippines, BR Brazil, MX Mexico and 5 more and Krish in IN India.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 12 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Kris is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name59K records spelled Kris7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, Brazil, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Krïs, Krís, Krîs, Křîš

• a separate given name59K records spelled Kris3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Kriš, Ḵrīs

• French given name16K records spelled Kris6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Philippines

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Krïs, Krîs, Krïš, Krīs

• Indonesian given name16K records spelled Kris2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Also written K̫R̫I̫s̫

• Russian surname2.6K records spelled Kris23 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, United States, Ukraine, Spain

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian

  Also written Крис, Cris, Кріс, Christ, Khris

75 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Kris is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A traditional Indonesian, Malaysian, or Filipino sword or dagger having a tapering, usually serpentine blade.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Dutch, kris (Indonesian or Malay with a wavy blade)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, crisis (very bad situation; emergency)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In kaw, kris (a dagger)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In rom, trial

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 88 years between 1937–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Christopher Lloydb. 1938USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1938)
• Chris Cooperb. 1951USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (1951-)
• Chris Columbusb. 1958USnot in their usual nameAmerican filmmaker (born 1958)
• Chris Buckb. 1960USnot in their usual nameAmerican animator and film director
• Chris Cornellb. 1964USnot in their usual nameAmerican musician (1964–2017)
• Chris Williamsb. 1968CAnot in their usual nameAmerican animator, film director and screenwriter
• Chris Terriob. 1976USnot in their usual nameAmerican film director
• Chris Hughesb. 1983USnot in their usual nameAmerican entrepreneur
• Kris Wub. 1990CNChinese-born Canadian rapper and convicted sex criminal (1990–)
• Chris Woodb. 1991NZnot in their usual nameNew Zealand association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 692 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Kris?

We estimate roughly 360 thousand people bear Kris (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Kris have the most bearers?

Kris is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled chris.

How common is Kris compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Kris is the 65th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Kris a male or female name?

Kris is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Kris mean?

Recorded meaning: , 3 Short form of Kristina, }Kristene, Kristen, or any other name beginning with this syllable.