Christopher - name meaning, origin

The boy's name Christopher \

is pronounced KRIS-toh-fer. It is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "bearing Christ inside". From Khristophoros. Popular among early Christians. The legend of Saint Christopher as the patron saint of travelers grew from the story of a giant who made his living carrying people across a river. According to the legend, one day he carried across a child whom he discovered was actually Christ. Revived in the 1940s by the popularity of A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh", whose human hero is called Christopher Robin. Christofer and Christoffer are German forms. Christophe (kris-TAWF) is French. Explorer Christopher Columbus; actors Christopher Plummer, Christopher Reeve; architect Christopher Wren.

Christopher has 32 variant forms: Chris, Christie, Christof, Christofer, Christoffer, Christoforo, Christoforus, Christoph, Christophe, Christophoros, Christos, Cris, Cristobal, Cristofer, Cristoforo, Cristovano, Kester, Kit, Kitt, Kris, Kriss, Kristo, Kristofel, Kristofer, Kristoffer, Kristofor, Kristoforos, Kristos, Krzysztof, Stoffel, Tobal and Topher.

For more information, see also the related name Kristopher.

Baby names that sound like Christopher are Cristopher and Khristopher.

Christopher is a very common first name for men (#11 out of 1220) and also a very common last name for both men and women (#1182 out of 88799). (1990 U.S. Census)

Displayed below is the baby name popularity trend for the boy name Christopher. Compare Christopher with its variant forms and related boy names.

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