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Christian (given name)
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Question_book-new.svg){kind=small} | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2017) |
| Pronunciation | English: /ˈkrɪstʃən, -tiən/ French: [kʁistjɑ̃] German: [ˈkʁɪsti̯a(ː)n] Danish: [ˈkʰʁestjæn] Dutch: [ˈkrɪstɕɑn] Swedish: [ˈkrɪ̌sːtɪjan] |
|---|---|
| Gender | Unisex (mostly and originally male) |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | Greek |
| Word/name | Χριστιανός |
| Meaning | "follower of Christ" |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Christiaan, Cristian, Cristiano, Chris, Kit |
| See also | Christian (surname), Christopher |
Christian is a unisex given name, which originated as a baptismal name used by persons of the Christian religion. It has been used as a given name since the Middle Ages, originally for males. It was later used for females,[1] without any feminising word endings.
A historically commonly used abbreviation (used for example on English 17th-century church monuments and pedigrees)[2] is Xpian, using the Greek Chi Rho Christogram Χρ, short for Χριστός, Christ. The Greek form of the baptismal name is Χριστιανός, a Christian. The name denotes a follower of Jesus Christ, thus a Christian.
In Europe, 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.[citation needed] Female variants of the name include Christine, Christina, Christiane, Cristiane, Kristen, Cristina, Kristin, and Kirsten.
- ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 55, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
- ^ For example, Xpian Rolle, a daughter of George Rolle (d.1552), as written in the Heraldic visitation of Devon, 1620 (Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.652)
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