There are a lot of female Christians in the Shetland part of my family tree and most of those used Christian and Christina interchangeably. Laura Dalgarno-Platt > Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2013 22:09:05 -0700 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Variations on the forename: "Christian" > > I should have added that I now leave the gender > question on forms blank, or choose "Both" if > that's offered. I was thinking of new researchers > who have yet to learn the tricks and who might > give up, thinking that great-granny isn't recorded > anywhere. And researchers of the future will > indeed, as Janet says, have to learn that trick > quickly with the large number of formerly > masculine names now being used for both -- > although they then tend to become gradually > thought of as girls' names and the process starts > over with different ones, and a trend to use > formerly girls' names for boys is never, > historically, as common. > > Incidentally, the name Christian was used in the > British Isles for both boy and girl babies from > c1200 on (or at least, first appearing in records > around that date). It was never one of the heavily > used names like Elizabeth, Ann, Mary, Margaret or > Jane for girls, for example, but it hung in there > for centuries, originally in honour of various > saints named Christian or Christianus. However, > the modest surge in popularity and the division > into a distinctly male and female form happened in > England with the publication of Bunyan's > "Pilgrim's Progress" in 1678 (Part I) and 1684 > (Part II), the two parts being about the religious > pilgrimages of the husband and wife Christian and > Christiana. Interestingly (well, I think it's > interesting, but then I tend to go riding off on > my hobbyhorse when names are discussed), in > Scotland and Ireland the majority of "Christians" > (the basic name, setting aside the variants) were > girls, while more often the pet-name "Christie" > was used as a formally given name for boys, > leading to the use of that as a surname. > > Margaret Gibbs > whose father wanted to name her Marilyn because > "Margaret is so common in Scotland" (being the > most-used name for girls there for centuries > thanks to Saint/Queen Margaret), but who is > grateful her mother's wishes won out because the > name is woven so tightly into the fabric of the > country and binds me to so many, many ancestresses > > > > > > > > On 03/10/2013 1:33 PM, Janet wrote: > > I follow what you are saying about there being a male name "Christian" but isnt that late > > 19th century onward. > > I just wonder; those who know about variations in name giving, and my, dont we find some > > in names given to children nowadays, > > would we not leave the gender part of the search without selection?. I usually do, so it > > allows all results which are mostly > > sorted correctly gender-wise. Of course we have to use our eyes and not let the modern > > brain lead the way. > > > > Janet > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From:<[email protected]> > > To:<[email protected]> > > Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2013 7:57 PM > > Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] Variations on the forename: "Christian" > > > > > >> While I have the same pronunciation preference as > >> Venita, the problem that can raise for family > >> history researchers is that in England (and other > >> countries) "Christian" is a male forename, and if > >> you check off Female on some forms while searching > >> for a Scottish ancestress by that name, you get > >> back "0 results". But then try for a census record > >> using the name of someone else in her family, and > >> there little "Kursteen" (as one record had it) is, > >> as a daughter of the family. My paternal > >> Aberdonian grandparents and relatives all > >> pronounced the personal name "Christian" as > >> something close to the Scandinavian "Kirsten", > >> hence the abbreviated common pet-name Kirstie. > >> However, they pronounced the adjective referring > >> to the religion as "Kristin" (and my maternal > >> Borders relatives pronounced the personal name > >> also as "Kristin"). I remember as a small child > >> finding this fascinating, which probably helped to > >> nudge me eventually towards my academic career in > >> historical and comparative onomastics -- I even > >> managed to work my gt-gt-grandmother > >> Christian-et-al into the oral defence of my PhD > >> thesis on Scottish names. (Probably startled the > >> lady into a quick spin in her grave: "What? Did > >> the lassie just take my name in vain? What on > >> earth is the bairn talking about?" :-) ) > >> > >> Margaret Gibbs > >> > >> > >> On 03/10/2013 10:44 AM, Venita wrote: > >>> My grandfather, who was half Scottish and half English, had a sister named Christian. > >>> My grandmother always pronounced her name Christie-ann, but many in the family called > >>> her "Christy" and spelled her name Christine or Christina. I vote for the original > >>> spelling and pronunciation! > >>> > >>> Venita > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>> On 2 October 2013 16:54, Margaret Gibbs<[email protected]> wrote: > >>>> > >>>>> And there are other nicknames for Christian, which is what appears on my > >>>>> gt-gt-grandmother's christening record. I was just listing the variants I'd > >>>>> found for her in her christening, marriage, census, and death records. Her > >>>>> husband registered her death as "Christina", although my grandfather said > >>>>> he never heard him call his wife anything but "Kirsty" -- or "my love" -- > >>>>> and on her marriage certificate she signed her name quite clearly as > >>>>> "Christianna". The family joke was that she decided to "frilly up" her name > >>>>> to match her wedding gown :-) . > >>>>> > >>>>> Margaret Gibbs > >>>>> > >>>>> ------------------------------- > >>>>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email [email protected] > >>>>> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > >>>>> message > >>> ------------------------------- > >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email [email protected] > >>> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > >>> message > >>> > >> ------------------------------- > >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email [email protected] with > >> the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message