Christopher

For other uses, see Christopher (disambiguation).
Christopher
Gender Male
Origin
Word/name Greek
Meaning Χριστόφορος (Christóphοros), "Christ-bearer"
Other names
Related names Chris, Christoph, Christy,
Look up Christopher in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (Christóforos). The constituent parts are Χριστός (Christós), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρειν (férein), "bear": the "Christ-bearer". It is related to the names Chris meaning "Anointed" and Christian meaning "follower of Christ" or "little Christ" (all from Greek.)

As a given, or first name, Christopher has been in use since the 10th century. In English, Christopher may be abbreviated as "Chris", and sometimes "Kit". Another less common abbreviation "Topher" or "Toph", has come into wider use in the U.S.

It was frequently the most popular male first name in the United Kingdom, having been in the top twenty in England and Wales from the 1940s until 1995, although it has since dropped out of the top 100. The name is most common in England and not so common in Wales, Scotland, or Ireland.[1]

People with the name

Cognates in other languages

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.