In the Middle Ages, Christian was a female name, but turned male with the introduction of the hero of John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”
I find this part of the description interesting… I can kind of see the femininity of it; the -ian, the pastel-colored soft images it evokes… That’s just me but it got me wondering:
Would any of you ever use [name]Christian[/name] as a girls’ name again? Why/why not?
I definitely would but I would use the [name]Christienne[/name] spelling.
I mean…I know that history, and it sounds like [name]Kristin[/name], so it wouldn’t bother me and if I loved the name I’d consider it, but no, not really.
I don’t love the idea of setting a child up for confusing people, and also, I feel like once people got that she was a girl, the name looks so much like [name]Christina[/name] people would always be assuming a typo.
That -ian ending thing, by the way, isn’t perfect: [name]Dorian[/name], [name]Florian[/name], [name]Justinian[/name], [name]Julian[/name], these are all boys (and [name]Ian[/name] itself), and [name]Vivian[/name], while totally feminized now, used to be a boys’ name! (the more common way to go). I think in the UK [name]Vivian[/name] maybe still rings slightly boyish to some (? could be wrong, just remembering a few posts on here where that seemed to be the case).
[name]Jillian[/name] is all girl, and [name]Lillian[/name], but I believe these were originally [name]Juliana[/name] (or maybe [name]Julienne[/name]?) and [name]Lilium[/name] and the sounds got adapted over time with use i English.
I think I read somewhere that [name]Emmett[/name] is another one of the rare names that’s gone girl > boy, but I might be remembering wrong.
I wouldn’t actually truly use any of the [name]Chris[/name]- names at all, because I’m not [name]Christian[/name] and it would be strange from a personal/spiritual standpoint as well as offending/confusing a bunch of people I know.
But from an aesthetic standpoint of just sounds really nice on somebody else’s kid I think [name]Christabel[/name], [name]Christiana[/name], and [name]Christine[/name] are prettier for a girl. [name]Christiana[/name] seems especially underused considering how on trend the [name]Ariana[/name]/[name]Liliana[/name]/[name]Viviana[/name] names are.
I like [name]Christian[/name] and [name]Kristoffer[/name] for a boy but I have a long term crush on [name]Kristoffer[/name] “[name]Kris[/name]” Kristofferson.
The first [name]Christian[/name] I ever met was a girl! I’ve always thought of it as unisex because of that. I didn’t realize until later that it wasn’t generally perceived that way. I like it on a girl.
Yes it was, and still is a a girl name. I don’t see why it can’t be used on girls. Christians are girls too [I am one, lol]. I know of a female [name]Christian[/name].
[name]Christian[/name] is on my list for a girl.
I went to jr. high with a girl named [name]Christian[/name], I’ve always thought of it as a unisex name.
I would never use it though. I am a [name]Christian[/name], but it just seems a bit weird. I mean who would name their child Muslim or Buddhist.
On top of that I’ve known about 40 [name]Christina[/name]'s in my life and I couldn’t stand to inflict another [name]Christy[/name] on the world, no matter the derivation.
There’s no reason [name]Christian[/name] can’t be used on a girl. I’ve known girls and guys named [name]Christian[/name]. Personally, I find it odd as a name.
There is a [name]Kristen[/name] at my church and one lady always calls her [name]Christian[/name], so I guess there are people in the world who think it’s feminine. This lady is from Hong Kong and has a lot of British friends, so maybe it’s more a British thing? I’ve never met anyone named [name]Christian[/name] though, and I know a lot of people who are Christians (as in, believe in Christianity).
[name]Christian[/name] has been used in my family for girls since the middle ages. So I see no problem using it for a girl today
I wouldn’t. But I could see it being a unisex name. Plus there are a couple nn in there too :).
Where does that description come from because I’m not buying it.
Why would [name]Christian[/name] be an exclusively female name when [name]Christian[/name] is a title for a group of people regardless of gender? If anything it’s a unisex name
From Behind the Name:
From the Medieval Latin name Christianus meaning “a Christian” (see CHRISTOS). In England it has been in use since the Middle Ages, during which time it was used by both males and females, but it did not become common until the 17th century. In Denmark the name has been borne by ten kings since the 15th century. A famous bearer was Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), the Danish author of such fairy tales as ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’.
And I only like the name on boys. When girls have it they’re always mistaken for [name]Kristin[/name]
I have a girl friend named [name]Christian[/name] and she’s never had a problem with her name, I never even thought it was weird to have as a girl
I’ve met a girl [name]Christian[/name] and I also grew up with a boy [name]Christian[/name] (who was actually Jewish! Haha) so it always felt unisex/word/virtue name to me.
I manages to feel girly (softer version of [name]Kristin[/name]) and boyish (and I’m sure 50 Shades of [name]Gray[/name] will make the name more popular & give it a sexier image)
I, myself, have always considered it male. The only people named [name]Christian[/name] I’ve ever known were male, yet I don’t see too much a problem with it being used on girls.
The first time I heard [name]Lindsey[/name] was on a girl in the 2nd grade, but many years later I heard it as a guy’s name on the show [name]Angel[/name] ([name]Buffy[/name]'s spin-off). So I guess we shouldn’t write some things off so quickly…
…unless it’s [name]Susan[/name]. Yeah, a hippie couple named their boy that on [name]Dexter[/name]'s Laboratory, and he went evil. Nuff said.
I would use [name]Christiana[/name].
I personally find [name]Christian[/name] to be a very odd name choice. It means “follower of [name]Christ[/name]” - that’s a decision someone makes, not something you’re born into. I know, you can say the same thing for any of the virtue names, ([name]Hope[/name], [name]Joy[/name], [name]Patience[/name], etc.) but I guess as a [name]Christian[/name], I just see this something you become, not something you are named. I mean, are there children called Muslim, Jew, Catholic, or Greek Orthodox? Maybe there is, I don’t know…
Since I’ve known mostly males with the name I see it as a male name. That being said, I do know 1 female [name]Kristian[/name]. So I do think it’s usable.
My name is [name_m]Christian[/name_m]. I am a girl and I never knew any other girl named [name_m]Christian[/name_m]. I never liked it. Teachers, doctors whoever saw my name the way it’s spelled would call me [name_f]Christina[/name_f], [name_f]Christine[/name_f], [name_f]Christa[/name_f], [name_u]Christie[/name_u], [name_f]Christin[/name_f] or [name_f]Chrissy[/name_f]. I think it’s because it’s a boys name. Also when I was in junior high the song [name_f]Sister[/name_f] [name_m]Christian[/name_m] came out and the other kids in my class would sing it to me and that made me hate it even more.
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f] is a girl name, [name_m]Christian[/name_m] a boy name.