Karen wrote: > I originally thought that Christiana might have been > Spanish or Italian etc, due to the unusual name. > Spanish people said no...not a name they know. ________________________________________ Hi Karen & Alistair Nope, there's a clear English lineage for Christiana. Christiana is reckoned to be an English learnèd medieval feminine version of Christian and had a great popularity in those days. It has had a recent revival as an elaborate form of Christine or Christina. Although in the Scottish records Christian has long been mostly used as a female name, elsewhere it is more frequently a male name. Both Christian [M & F] and Christiana have had continuous popularity in devout families, especially since the publication of 'Pilgrims Progress' in which Bunyan used both names for the eponymous Pilgrim and his wife. Best wishes Ray Hennessy www.whatsinaname.net