Christopher
Meaning of Christopher
Christopher slips into conversation like a well-tuned mandolin under a Tuscan moon—familiar, melodious, and tinged with history. Born from the Greek Khristophoros, “Christ-bearer,” the name first walked the dusty roads of the early church, immortalized in the tale of Saint Christopher hoisting the holy Child across a swelling river. Latin scholars polished it to Christophorus; Italians, with their flair for rolling r’s, turned it into the adventurous Cristoforo—think Colombo plotting courses across an uncharted Atlantic while the aroma of espresso still lingered on the breeze. In today’s English it’s spoken crisply as KRIS-tuh-fer, a sound both sturdy and friendly, much like the trusty backpack of a modern traveler who pins St. Christopher to the strap for luck. Statisticians note that the name rocketed to the U.S. Top 10 in the 1970s and ’80s, peaking at a heady No. 2, and though it now cruises around No. 60, its enduring presence suggests a classic that ages like a fine Chianti rather than a fleeting fashion. From silver-screen heroes such as Christopher Reeve to literary luminaries like Christopher Marlowe, the name carries a passport brimming with stamps, yet it never forgets its first duty: to shoulder hope and explore new horizons—preferably with a wink, a map, and a spare biscotti in the pocket.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as KRIS-tuh-fer (/ˈkrɪs.tə.fər/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Similar Names to Christopher
Notable People Named Christopher
| Sir Christopher Lee was an English actor and singer whose six decades on screen and commanding presence and voice made him an iconic villain, earning a knighthood and BAFTA and BFI honors. |
| Christopher Nolan is a British American filmmaker renowned for structurally complex blockbusters that have earned billions worldwide, winner of two Academy Awards, and knighted in 2024. |
| Christopher Reeve was an American actor, director, author, and activist best known for playing Superman and for winning BAFTA, Emmy, Grammy, and SAG awards. |
| Christopher Marlowe, known as Kit, was a pioneering Elizabethan playwright, poet, and translator whose blank verse and daring dramas of ambition and violence influenced Shakespeare before his early mysterious death. |
| Canadian actor Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer worked across film, stage, and television for seven decades, becoming the only Canadian with the Triple Crown of Acting by winning an Academy Award, two Tonys, and two Emmys, plus a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and a Grammy nomination. |
| Christopher Walken is an acclaimed American actor with an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a SAG Award, multiple Emmy and Tony nominations, and films that have grossed over 1.6 billion dollars in the United States. |
| Robert Christopher Lasch was an American historian, social critic, and University of Rochester professor who argued that powerful institutions erode families and communities and warned against consumerism, proletarianization, and a culture of narcissism. |
| Christopher Eccleston is an English actor whose career spans film, TV, and stage, best known as the Ninth Doctor in Doctor Who, as Matt Jamison in The Leftovers, and for collaborations with Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom. |
| Christopher Lloyd is an American actor active since the 1960s, best known for Doc Brown in Back to the Future and Jim Ignatowski in Taxi, earning two Emmy Awards. |
| Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock was an English Royal Navy officer renowned for his gallantry. |
| Christopher Asher Wray is an American attorney who served as FBI director from 2017 to 2025 after being nominated by President Donald Trump to replace James Comey. |
| Sir Christopher Hampton is a British playwright, screenwriter, and translator best known for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a three time Academy Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay who won for Dangerous Liaisons and The Father and was also nominated for Atonement. |
| Christopher Tolkien, son of JRR Tolkien, was an English and later French editor and writer who over 45 years edited 24 volumes of his father's posthumous works, including The Silmarillion and The History of Middle-earth, and drew the original maps for The Lord of the Rings. |
| Christopher Guest is an American and British actor, comedian, writer, and director best known for mockumentary classics like This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and Best in Show, and for his role in The Princess Bride. |
| Christopher Clavius was a German Jesuit mathematician and astronomer, head of mathematics at the Collegio Romano, who helped adopt and defend the Gregorian calendar and whose textbooks shaped astronomy across Europe for decades. |
