Nevaeh strikes many as too religious. Ditto old school Biblical picks like Hezekiah or extreme virtue names like Prudence. But this choice is surprisingly mainstream.
Thanks to Shannon for suggesting Christian as Name of the Day.
You probably wouldn’t call your kiddo Islam. But despite Christian’s ties to one of the world’s major religions, he is perfectly mainstream in 2010. In fact, Christian has hovered around #25 in the US since the mid-1990s, and ranked in the Top 100 since the mid-1980s.
The average baby name book will probably give you a definition something like “follower of Christ.” It isn’t exactly that straightforward. Christ wasn’t a given name, but a title worn by Jesus of Nazareth. It comes from the Greek khristos – the anointed one. In turn, the Greek is a translation of the Hebrew word messiah. The term was probably first used in the Septuagint, the first translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, completed between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC. Over time, christianos did indeed come to mean follower of Christ.
As a given name, Christian has been around for centuries. In Medieval England, it was solidly gender neutral. Suggest this name for a daughter today, and you’d probably face some criticism for stealing another one from the boys.
Most of the notable bearers of the name have been male, from John Bunyan’s protagonist in 1678’s The Pilgrim’s Progress to modern day figures like:
- A handful of medieval religious figures, including at least one Saint Christian, the thirteenth century Bishop of Prussia;
- Actors Christian Slater and Christian Bale;
- Fashion designers Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix and Christian Louboutin, plus past Project Runway winner Christian Siriano;
- Ten kings of Denmark, from the mid-1400s right into the 20th century. Preschool-aged Prince Christian is the firstborn son of Denmark’s current crown prince, and presumably will eventually follow his father and grandmother to the throne as King Christian XI;
- Early skateboarding star Christian Hosoi, as well as athletes from ice hockey to beach volleyball.
Christian has international reach. He hovers near #10 in Denmark, and also places in the Top 100 in Australia, Austria, Norway, Germany and Spain. You’ll also hear him in Canada and the UK. In some languages, he’s actually pronounced with three-syllables – kris TEE ahn.
It would be wrong to classify Christian as trendy, but it is impossible to deny how nicely he fits current trends:
- He’s two syllables (at least in English) and ends in -n;
- Just like Jackson takes his queue from the evergreen John, Christian owes something to Christopher, a Top Ten pick since 1967;
- Unlike Christopher, Christian is nickname-proof;
- He fits in with softer boys’ names like Noah and Isaiah.
Variant Kristian is seen, but has yet to challenge the more conventional English version in the US. The Latino Cristian is actually more common – he’s appeared in the mid-100s for a decade, and ranks in the Top 100 of both Chile and Spain.
Interestingly, Christian did gain for girls in the 1980s, at the same time the name was accelerating in use for boys. But it didn’t stick, and left the US Top 1000 entirely after 2004. Christina, Christine, Cristina, Kristin, Krista, Crystal and even the intoxicating Cristal rank in the girls’ Top 1000, but that’s no longer true for Christian.
Overall, he’s a solid choice – in keeping with trends, but with a long history of use. If you don’t mind – or can embrace – his spiritual side, he makes for a nice compromise between buttoned-down classics like William and nouveau appellations like Jayden.
Perhaps his only shortcoming is that so many others have discovered him already!
Sebastiane says
February 28, 2010 at 9:14 AMI have always really liked Christian, the only drawback to this name is that you have to kind of live up to it. Unfortunately, every Christian I have known we not very “Christ-like” and that was quite noticeable if your first name suggests otherwise.
Shannon says
March 9, 2010 at 8:24 AMYay, you mentioned me Abby. LOL. This is my husbands name. I think it is funny that you mention that people with this name are not very Christ like. That is very true for my husband. He is an Atheist. He love to mess with his Christian family and just about anyone who is a Christian with his comments. Some people do call him Chris, he is not fond of his full name.
Bewildertrix says
February 24, 2010 at 3:36 PMLike with Julian, I’d rather see it on a girl. That ‘guilt’ aside, Christianity has absolutely zero significance to me and it would be a ridiculous choice. I’ve been banned from Chris- names thanks to a horrible personal association so…
Incidentally, Kit would be my preferred nickname.
Holey says
February 24, 2010 at 1:23 AMI’m not a fan. The name “Christian” is much too in-your-face religious for my taste.
caroline says
February 23, 2010 at 11:41 AMI know two infant Christians, a brother to Julian,and a brother to Arabella. I also know of another person who planned to name their little boy Christian, but he was born at 20 weeks. I don’t have much feeling about this name one way or the other, but clearly it has some appeal to people around me. I don’t know that its nickname-proof, however. Seems like “chris” could come just as easily from Christian as Christopher.
JNE says
February 23, 2010 at 10:49 AMGrowing up with all the Chris-/ Kris- named kids as my friends, it’s hard to get excited about one of them. For me, Christian is one of my least well liked Chris- names (I don’t really love any of them, though and I don’t seriously dislike any, they’re just dull). It has to do with the fact that we refer to a group of people as Christians. As you mentioned, we probably would think calling a kid Muslim or Jewish as seriously odd. The youngest Christian I know personally is 16 years old now. It says 70s/80s to me, along with all the other Chris- names, but it’s pretty evergreen, so it’s not so tied to those decades that it feels too dated.
To your point of 3-syllable Christian and also the gender neutrality of the name in centuries past, I submit Christiane Amanpour. Sure, it’s got an e on the end to make sure you give it the third syllable and it makes it look all feminine, but it’s the remnant of the female use of Christian, surely.
appellationmountain says
February 23, 2010 at 1:31 PMThat’s a nice point, JNE. My brother-in-law is two-syllable Christian in English; three-syllable kris TEE ahn in Polish. And sometimes krees TYAHN when the two are blurred … My mother-in-law’s maiden name is the Polish equivalent of Christopherson, so while I don’t love Chris- names, they always surface on our lists.
And Christiane is lovely!
Joy says
February 23, 2010 at 5:12 PMIn high school, I knew a Danish foreign exchange student named Christianne, but it was pronounced with four syllables: cris-tee-AHN-uh. I’ve always thought it was a lovely name, with lots more personality than Christie or Kristen.
UrbanAngel says
February 23, 2010 at 9:52 AMIf you go into theological studies , one of the meaning for
appellationmountain says
February 23, 2010 at 12:24 PMLong comments rock! 🙂
And I struggled with the meaning of Christian, so thank you for that perspective!
UrbanAngel says
February 23, 2010 at 12:34 PMOh, good! I was a bit worried about that. I tend to get carried away sometimes & it can be annoying to some.Thanks for not minding 😉
appellationmountain says
February 24, 2010 at 10:09 AMHey, if I write 500 words a day and y’all show up to read ’em, I can read a 150-character comment! 🙂
And I do read all of the comments – I just don’t always comment back, for which I suffer guilt.
UrbanAngel says
February 24, 2010 at 3:47 PMYou shouldn’t feel guilty! You don’t have to comment back . If you do, it’s great- but it’s not expected. Really, don’t worry 🙂