MEANING & HISTORY
What does Christopher mean?
Christopher comes from Greek Christophoros, combining Christos with a bearer or carrying element. The familiar legend of Saint Christopher carrying the child Jesus illustrates that formation.
The name’s structure is a religious compound, not a claim of supernatural protection for every bearer. Christopher and shortened forms such as Chris preserve different lengths of the same established personal-name tradition.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈkɹɪs.tə.fɚ/General-American
- /ˈkɹɪs.tə.fə/Received-Pronunciation
Chris · to · pher3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
CebuanoEtymology & source
From English Christopher, from Ancient Greek Χριστόφορος (Khristóphoros, “Christ-bearing”).
a male given name from English
Wiktionary: Christopher (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From Late Latin Christophorus, from Koine Greek Χρῑστόφορος (Khrīstóphoros, “carrier of Christ”), from Ancient Greek Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ”) + φόρος (phóros, “carrier, bearer”), from φέρειν (phérein, “to carry, to bear”) + -ος (-os, “-er: forming agent nouns”), from the legend of Saint Christopher carrying the infant Jesus across a river.
A male given name from Ancient Greek.
Wiktionary: Christopher (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Christopher
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Christopher de Leon
Filipino actor-politician
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Chris Greatwich
English-Filipino footballer (born 1983)
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
18
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
20
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Chris Greatwich, Christopher de Leon
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Christopher in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Christopher
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Christine♀Christian; feminine form of Christianus
- Chester♂From Chester, ultimately Latin camp or fortress
- Christa♀Short form of Christina
- Christi♀Familiar form of Christine or Christina
- Christian♂Follower of Christ
- Christianne♀French feminine form of Christian
- Christina♀A Christian; feminine of Latin Christianus
- Christy♂♀Familiar form of Christine, Christina, or Christopher
What rhymes with Christopher?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Recorded combinations with Christopher
5 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- Christopher Jones·Source record
- Christopher Paul·Source record
- Christopher Roy·Source record
- Gerard Christopher·Source record
- Peter Christopher·Source record
Explore Christopher further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q1084472 — Christopher (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Chris Greatwich (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1084472 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Christopher de Leon (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q1084472 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Christopher (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Christopher (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Christopher (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.