Christian (name)

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Christian is a popular first name and surname in Northern Europe. The use of Christian as a personal name derives from its use to describe followers of Christianity. "Christian" can also mean "Christ Believer". ^[1] 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 versions of the name include Christine, Christina, Kristen, Kristin, and Kirsten. Holders of the name Christian may go by the nicknames or shortened forms "Chris," "Chrissy", "Xian" or "Kissa" (in Norwegian). Christian is the name of

• several kings of Denmark
• several princes
• the protagonist in John Bunyan's allegorical novel The Pilgrim's Progress
• Christian of Oliva, 13th century Cistercian monk and the first bishop of Prussia
• the surname of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutineers on the HMAV Bounty and the founder of a colony on Pitcairn Island
• a stage name of Canadian professional wrestler Jason Reso. He currently goes by the slightly-extended Christian Cage.
• Christian Potenza, Canadian actor
• Christian Slater, American actor
• Christian Bale, Welsh actor
• Christian Ehrhoff, German ice hockey player

Other languages

• Cristián (Spanish)
• Chrétien (French)
• Cristian (Romanian)
• Cristiano (Italian)
• Christian (German)
• Kristian (Finnish)
• Krisztián (Hungarian), for the Danish kings Keresztély
• Krystian (Polish)
• Християн (Bulgarian)
• Cristiano (Portuguese)

References

1. ^ Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1, p.55.