Given name & surname
Cristiano
Cristiano is a masculine given name from Medieval Latin. It is used in Italian and Portuguese.
Meaning & origin
How it developed
From Medieval Latin Chrīstiānus, built from Latin Chrīstus + -iānus.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1989. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Cristiano through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 3,898
- 3,898 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2015
- 267 babies
- 2025
- 152
- #1,288 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −19%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 152 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,288 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 19.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 267 in 2015. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (31). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,962 as a first name in 2020; 910 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Cristiano’s family of names
In Portuguese usage, Cristiano shares an earlier linguistic root with Cristian. Cristiano has a related form in Christian. In Portuguese usage, Cristiano has a conventional equivalent in the English form Christian.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Cristiano has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
13 related names in 11 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 21
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Cristiano
- Cristiano RonaldoPortuguese association football player (born 1985)
- Jorge ManriqueSpanish poet (1440–1479)
- Cristiano DoniItalian footballerborn 1973
- Cristiano ZanettiItalian footballerborn 1977
- CrisBrazilian association football playerborn 1977
- Cristiano BiraghiItalian footballerborn 1992
- Cristiano da MattaBrazilian racing driverborn 1973
- CristianoBrazilian association football playerborn 1987
- Cristiano PicciniItalian footballerborn 1992
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
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