Christian (given name)

Christian is a unisex given name. It originated as a baptismal name used by persons of the Christian religion. It derives from the Latin Christianus, meaning "follower of Christ." It has been used as a given name since the Middle Ages.^[1]

A historically commonly used abbreviation (used for example on English 17th-century church monuments and pedigrees) is Xpian, using the Greek Chi Rho Christogram Χρ, short for Χριστός, Christ. An example is Xpian Rolle, a daughter of George Rolle (d.1552).^[2] The Greek form of the baptismal name is Χριστιανός, a Christian. The name denotes a follower of Jesus Christ, thus a Christian. The common noun and adjective christian are found in English starting from the 16th century but the name Christian is found from the 12th century. The Old English form of the noun was christen.^[3]

In Europe it was almost exclusively used as a male name but in Britain it was more common for females and used interchangeably with the French Christine.^[1] It was common for women in Britain from the middle ages up until the 17th century.^[3] Female variants of the name include Christine, Christina, Christiane, Cristiane, Kristen, Cristina, Kristin, and Kirsten.

It is a popular name in English-speaking countries and Northern Europe. In the United States, it has been ranking in the top 100 boy names list for four decades. It peaked in the 90s and ranked 21 in 2006. The most common nickname is Chris.