by Ann Major

Created on: February 05, 2008   Last Updated: April 13, 2011

Gender: Male or Masculine

Pronunciation: KRIS-to-fur

Etymology:

The name Christopher is linked to early Christian religion, meaning "bearing Christ".  It comes from Greek, meaning "to bear, to carry". Christopher is the patron saint who carried a young Jesus across the river.

Origin and History:

Christopher is the patron saint of athletes, porters, sailors and travelers. When this author's son was born, he was named Christopher and this name is certainly well-suited to him, as Christopher loves to travel and has been to such far-away places as Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and China.  This is in keeping with a very famed traveler, Christopher Columbus, an explorer who reached the West Indies in the 15th century.

Popularity:

The name Christopher, revived from Biblical times, became popular in the 1940's when A.A. Milne wrote "Winnie the Pooh" and the young hero's name was Christopher Robin. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, Christopher was popular as both a
male first name and surname as well.

Popularity Trend:

In the 1900's approx. 300 babies were named Christopher.  From 1950's - 2005, the name lost its popularity, but in other countries, it made a resurgence, especially in Scotland. From 1998-2006, the name Christopher was prominent in countries such as Ireland,
England & Wales, Canada (B.C), and Australia(NSW).

Name Variants:

In Germany, a male would be called "Christoffer" and in France, it would be spelled "Christophe" (Kris-TAWF). There are actually 32
variations of the name Christopher. Below are listed names starting with "C" but can also be interchanged with a "K".

Chris, Christie, Christof, Christofer, Christoffer, Christoforo,
Christoforous, Christoph, Christophoros, Christos, Cris, Cristobal,
Cristofer, Cristoforo, Cristovano, ( as also with "K"), Kit, Kitt,
Kris, Kriss, Kristo, Kristos, Krzysztof, Stoffel, Tobal, Topher

Famous Persons:

It appears anyone with the name Christopher are very talented people, especially a great many actors. They are:

Christopher Plummer - A Sound of Music ( most popular movie )
Christopher Reeve - Superman movies
Christopher Lloyd - Back to the Future movies
Chris Palmer - Miscellaneous Crew, The Mummy Returns (2001)
Other actors include Chris O'Donnell, Christopher Fox, Christopher
Lord, Christopher Lemmon.
For anyone of Asian origin named Christopher, there is also a Chinese rendition of the name Christopher, involving five calligraphic designs. 

Namesakes:

There appears to be very few places, books or movies with the name Christopher, but plenty of reviews, movies, or websites written by
males with the name Christopher. However, due to the notoriety of Christopher Columbus, a multitude of places are named after Columbus, particularly the name Columbia.

Facts:

As with namesakes, their associations with the name Chris are rare. One website involves Chris Anderson who is in the limelight for spewing off against PR people who are constantly spamming him. Since he is a major publisher, the attitude is, he's a big boy, he should be able to take it. Well, these are the facts about the name Christopher.

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