Christian (name)
Encyclopedia
Christian is a given name
borne by males and females. The name is derived from the Latin
Christianus, meaning "follower of Christ
". It has been a commonly used as a name, since the Middle Ages
- especially amongst females.
Today the name is popular in Europe
, United States
and other English-speaking countries. Today in Europe — though not the United States — it is almost exclusively used as a male name, but in the 17th and 18th centuries it was a popular female first name in Scotland
.
Female variants of the name include Christine
, Christina, Christiane, Kristen
, Kristin
, and Kirsten
. Holders of the name Christian may go by the nicknames or shortened forms Chris
, Chrissy or Xian.
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
borne by males and females. The name is derived from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
Christianus, meaning "follower of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
". It has been a commonly used as a name, since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
- especially amongst females.
Today the name is popular in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and other English-speaking countries. Today in Europe — though not the United States — it is almost exclusively used as a male name, but in the 17th and 18th centuries it was a popular female first name in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Female variants of the name include Christine
Christine (name)
Christine is a feminine name of Greek or Latin origin. It is derived from the word Christ, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Messiah"...
, Christina, Christiane, Kristen
Kristen (given name)
Kristen was originally a male first name, the Danish or Norwegian form of Christian. However, in English speaking countries Kristen is usually now a female first name, used as an alternative spelling of Kristin, a Scandinavian form of Christine.-Actors:...
, Kristin
Kristin (name)
Kristin is a popular female name in Scandinavia, English-speaking nations, and in German-speaking countries. It is a Scandinavian variant of Christina or Christine...
, and Kirsten
Kirsten
Kirsten is a Swedish, Danish and Norwegian form of the name Christina. It may refer to:People with the surname Kirsten:* Benjamin Kirsten , British singer* Dorothy Kirsten , American opera singer...
. Holders of the name Christian may go by the nicknames or shortened forms Chris
Chris
Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, Crissie and others. Unlike these names, however, it does not indicate the person's gender although it is much more common for males to have this name than it is for females. It is the preferred form of...
, Chrissy or Xian.
In other languages
- ChristiaanChristiaanChristiaan is a Dutch given name and may refer to:* Christiaan Bakkes, South African writer* Christiaan Barnard, South African surgeon* Christiaan Boers, a Dutch resistance fighter* Christiaan Cornelissen, a Dutch syndicalist...
(Afrikaans, DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) - KarstenKarstenKarsten or Carsten is a Low German form of Christian. It is also a surname, and may refer to:-People:* Adrian Karsten , U.S. college football reporter* Christoffer Christian Karsten , Swedish opera singer...
(GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Dutch) - Християн, Кристиян or Кристиан (BulgarianBulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
) - Kristian or Kristo (AlbanianAlbanian languageAlbanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
) - KristiánKristianKristian is also the spelling of the name Christian in several languages, among them Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.Kristian may also refer to:-Given name:* Kristian Digby , British television presenter and director...
(CzechCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
) - KristjanKristjanKristjan is the spelling of the name Christian in Estonian language.People named Kristjan include:*Kristjan Donaldson , Australian Architect*Kristjan Järvi , Estonian-American conductor...
(EstonianEstonian languageEstonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
) - KristianKristianKristian is also the spelling of the name Christian in several languages, among them Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.Kristian may also refer to:-Given name:* Kristian Digby , British television presenter and director...
(EstonianEstonian languageEstonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, FinnishFinnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, DanishDanish languageDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, NorwegianNorwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
or SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) - ChrétienChrétienChrétien may refer to:*Chrétien de Troyes, 12th century French poet*Chrétien Le Clercq, 17th century Roman Catholic missionary*Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes , French merchant-trader, diplomat and scholar...
(FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Críosdaidh (GaelicScottish Gaelic languageScottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
) - Christian (GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Krisztián (HungarianHungarian languageHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
), for the Danish kings Keresztély - Kristján (IcelandicIcelandic languageIcelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
) - Cristiano (ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) - Kristiāns {LatvianLatvian languageLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
) - Kristijonas (LithuanianLithuanian languageLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
) - Кристијан or Христијан (MacedonianMacedonian languageMacedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
) - Creestee (ManxManx languageManx , also known as Manx Gaelic, and as the Manks language, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, historically spoken by the Manx people. Only a small minority of the Island's population is fluent in the language, but a larger minority has some knowledge of it...
) - KrystianKrystianKrystian is the Polish and American form of Christian.It is also a combination of the names Krystina and Ian, or Kristine and Christian.Krystian means follower in Greek....
(PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
) - Cristian (GalicianGalician languageGalician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
) - Cristian or Cristián (ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, RomanianRomanian languageRomanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
;Romance languagesRomance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
) - Kristijan (Slovenian and Croatian)
- Християн або Крістіан (UkrainianUkrainian languageUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
)
People with the given name Christian
- several kings of Denmark
- several princes
- Christian of OlivaChristian of OlivaChristian of Oliva , also Christian of Prussia was the first missionary bishop of Prussia.Christian was born about 1180 in the Duchy of Pomerania, possibly in the area of Chociwel...
, 13th century Cistercian monk and the first bishopBishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Prussia - a ring nameRing nameA ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
of CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional wrestlerProfessional wrestlingProfessional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
Jason Reso. - Hans Christian AndersenHans Christian AndersenHans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
, Danish author - Christian BakkerudChristian BakkerudChristian Bakkerud was a Danish racing driver, who competed in the 2007 and 2008 GP2 Series seasons, albeit hindered by a recurrent back injury...
, Danish racing driver - Christian BaleChristian BaleChristian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
, English actor - Christian CookeChristian CookeChristian Louis Cooke is an English actor, known for playing Luke Kirkwall in Where the Heart Is, Luke Rutherford in Demons, Dorian Gaudain in Trinity, Freddie in Cemetery Junction and Len Matthews in the Channel 4 mini series The Promise.-Background:Cooke was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where...
, English actor - Christian DiorChristian DiorChristian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
, French fashion designer - Christian DopplerChristian DopplerChristian Andreas Doppler was an Austrian mathematician and physicist.-Life and work:Christian Doppler was raised in Salzburg, Austria, the son of a stonemason. Doppler could not work in his father's business because of his generally weak physical condition...
, Austrian mathematician and physicist - Christian EhrhoffChristian EhrhoffChristian Ehrhoff is a German professional ice hockey defenceman who plays for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League...
, German ice hockey player - Christian Fernández SalasChristian Fernández SalasChristian Fernández Salas, simply Christian , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Racing de Santander mainly as a left defender.-Football career:...
, Spanish football defender - Christian HosoiChristian HosoiChristian Rosha Hosoi is an American professional skateboarder. He is also known by the nicknames "Christ" and "Holmes". Hosoi is married to a former night club dancer Jenn Lee and has four sons, James Hosoi, Rhythm Hosoi , Classic Hosoi and Endless Hosoi...
, Pro skateboarder - Christian LacroixChristian LacroixChristian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.-Early life:Lacroix was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. At a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions. Lacroix graduated from high school in 1969...
, French fashion designer - Christian LouboutinChristian LouboutinChristian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose father is cabinetmaker Roger Louboutin and homemaker mother Irene. His siblings include three sisters, no brothers. Landscape architect Louis Benech has been his partner since 1997. Louboutin launched his line of high-end women's shoes in...
, French footwear designer - Christian JimémezChristian JimenezChristian Jimenez is an American soccer player of Mexican descent. He is currently without a club, having been waived by Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer in 2007.-Career:...
, American soccer player - Christian Julius de MezaChristian Julius De MezaChristian Julius de Meza was the commander of the Danish army during the 1864 Second Schleswig War...
, a Danish army commander - Christian KlienChristian KlienChristian Klien is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. In total he has scored 14 points in Formula One.Klien currently drives for Aston Martin Racing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup-Racing career:...
, Austrian racing driver - Christian OkoyeChristian OkoyeChristian Emeka Okoye , is a Nigerian-American former American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1987 to 1992. Nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare," Okoye was known for his powerful running style and ability to break tackles. Okoye's six seasons in the NFL saw a league rushing...
, American football player - Christian PampelChristian PampelChristian Pampel is a volleyball player from Germany.- Career :Christian Pampel started his career in Hochstetten in 1995. After three years in the Volleyball-boarding school Frankfurt he went to the first division club VfB Friedrichshafenin 1999, won his first championship 2000 and made it to the...
, German volleyball player - Christian PenigaudChristian PenigaudChristian Penigaud is a retired beach volleyball player from France, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1996...
, French beach volleyball player - Christian PotenzaChristian PotenzaChristian Potenza is a Canadian actor born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.- Biography :He has been in television since 1997, when he first appeared in the television series Riverdale as the character Jimmy....
, Canadian actor - Christian ReiherChristian ReiherChristian Reiher is a German mathematician. He is the second most successful participant in the history of the International Mathematical Olympiad, having won four gold medals in the years 2000 to 2003 and a bronze medal in 1999.Just after finishing his Abitur, he proved Kemnitz's conjecture, an...
, German mathematical genius - Christian SerratosChristian SerratosChristian Marie Serratos is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Angela Weber in Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse, which are based on the Twilight novels by Stephenie Meyer.-Early life:...
, American Actress - Christian SlaterChristian SlaterChristian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
, American actor - Christian SirianoChristian SirianoChristian Siriano is an American fashion designer. Siriano first gained attention after winning the fourth season of American reality show Project Runway, becoming the series' youngest winner...
, American fashion designer & winner of Project RunwayProject RunwayProject Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...
Season 4 - Cristiano RonaldoCristiano RonaldoCristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
, Portuguese footballer - Cristiano dos Santos RodriguesCristiano dos Santos RodriguesCristiano dos Santos Rodrigues , commonly known as Cristiano, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a striker for South Australian Premier League side White City FC.-Early career:...
, commonly known as just Cristiano, Brazilian footballer
Fictional characters
- the protagonist in John BunyanJohn BunyanJohn Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
's allegoricalAllegoryAllegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Pilgrim's ProgressThe Pilgrim's ProgressThe Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been... - Christian (wrestler), long-time professional wrestling villain turned hero, the alter-ego of professional wrestler and actor Jay Reso.
- the protagonist in director Baz LuhrmannBaz LuhrmannMark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...
's jukebox musicalJukebox musicalA jukebox musical is a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. Usually the songs have in common a connection with a particular popular musician or group — either because they were written by, or for, the artists in question, or were at least...
filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Moulin Rouge!Moulin Rouge!Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
interpreted by Scottish actor Ewan McGregorEwan McGregorEwan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the... - Christian ShephardChristian ShephardDr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
, a character on the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
series LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, portrayed by American actor John TerryJohn TerryJohn George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
. - character in the 21st Century Breakdown21st Century Breakdown21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It is the band's second rock opera, following American Idiot, and their first album to be produced by Butch Vig. Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006...
album by Green DayGreen DayGreen Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
. - Christian TroyChristian TroyDr. Christian Troy is a fictional character played by Julian McMahon on the FX Networks series Nip/Tuck. The show revolves around McNamara/Troy, the plastic surgery practice he runs with his business partner and best friend, Sean McNamara....
, a character on the FX original series Nip/TuckNip/TuckNip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
.