Christabel was already a name before Coleridge’s time. It is to be found in Cornwall, in 1727, and in the North of England. It occurs at Crayke, in Yorkshire, between 1538 and 1652.
| English. | German. | French. | Swedish. |
| Christian | Christian | Chrestien | Kristian |
| Chrétien | |||
| Danish. | Netherlands. | Dantzig. | Frisian. |
| Christian | Kerstan | Zan | Tsassen |
| Karston | Dutch. | Tziasso | |
| Krischân | Korstiaan | Zasso | |
| Kruschan | Sasze | ||
| Swiss. | Polish. | Slavonic. | Illyrian. |
| Krista | Krystyan | Kristijan | Kristian |
| Chresta | Kersto | ||
| Chresteli | Hristo | ||
| Lusatian. | Bulgarian. | Lett. | Esthonian. |
| Khrystjan | Krustjo | Kristo | Kersti |
| Kristo | Skersto | Hungarian. | |
| Kito | Kerestel | ||
| FEMININE. | |||
| English. | French. | German. | Bulgarian. |
| Christiana | Christine | Christiane | Khrustina |
| Christian | Christine | Lithuanian. | |
| Christina | Stine | Krikszte | |
| Chrissie | Tine | ||
| Xina | Kristel | ||
| Portuguese. | Spanish. | Italian. | Danish. |
| Christinha | Cristine | Cristina | Karstin |
| Slavonic. | Lusatian. | Lett. | Esthonian. |
| Kristina | Krystla | Kristine | Kirstin |
| Kina | Kita | Kersti | Kirste |
| Kitka | Skersten | ||
From the same holy title was derived that of Χριστοφόρος (Christ-bearer), claimed by many an early Christian as an expression of his membership, as St. Ignatius on his trial spoke of himself as Θεοφορος. To this title was attached the beautiful allegory of the giant ever in search of the strongest master, whom he found at last in the little child that he bore on his shoulders over the river. Simplicity soon turned the parable into credited fact, and St. Christopher became the object of the most eager veneration, especially as there had been a real martyr so called, and mentioned in the Mozarabic service-book. He was put to death in Lycia, and his relics were supposed to have been at first at Toledo and afterwards at St. Denis. The sight of St. Christopher’s image was thought to be a protection from sickness, earthquake, fire, or flood, for the rest of the day, and it was therefore carved out and painted in huge proportions outside churches and houses, especially in Italy, Spain, and Germany. The cumbrous length is cut down in England into Kit, Kester, and Chris. The modern Greeks shorten Christophoros into Christachi. The two feminine are the German Christophine and English Christophera.
| English. | Scotch. | French. | Swedish. |
| Christopher | Christopher | Christophe | Kristofer |
| Kester | Christal | Kristofel | |
| Kit | |||
| Chris | |||
| Netherlands. | German. | Swiss. | Italian. |
| Toffel | Christoph | Chrestoffel | Cristoforo |
| Toff | Stoffel | Stoffel | Cristovano |
| Stoppel | Gristovalo | ||
| Portuguese. | Spanish. | Russian. | Polish. |
| Christovao | Cristoval | Christofer | Kristof |
| Christof | |||
| Lusatian. | Lett. | Lithuanian. | |
| Kitto | Kristoppis | Kristuppas | |
| Kristagis |
Christopher was once far more common in England than it is at present. In the list of voters at Durham in the year 1500, there were thirteen Christophers, and in 1813 there were as many as ten. The Germans have also Christophilon, meaning, loved by Christ.[[41]]
[41]. Milman, Christianity; Liddell and Scott; Jameson.
Section IV.—Sophia.
Perhaps we ought to consider Sophia (Σοφία) as one of the words most closely connected with divine attributes, since its use as a name was owing to the dedication of that most gorgeous of Christian temples by which Justinian declared that he had surpassed Solomon. It was called, and it has borne the title through its four hundred years of bondage to Islam, Sta. Sophia (the holy wisdom of God), that figurative wisdom whom Christians considered the Book of Proverbs to point out as the Word of God. Moreover, the words of the ‘Preacher,’ in the Book of Ecclesiasticus, “Wisdom (Σοφία) is the mother of fair Love and Hope and holy Fear,” suggested an allegory of a holy woman with three daughters so called, and thus, in compliment, no doubt, to the glorious newly-built church, the niece of Justinian’s empress, afterwards wife to his nephew and successor, was called Sophia, a name which thenceforward became the fashion among the purple-born daughters, and spread from them among the Slavonian nations, who regarded Constantinople as the centre of civilization.
Through these Slavonians Sophia spread to Germany. A Hungarian princess was so called in 999; another, the daughter of King Geysa, married Magnus of Saxony, in 1074, and Saxony scattered its Sophias in the next centuries all over the neighbouring states and into Denmark, where it has always been a royal name. Very nearly had the Electress Sophia brought it to our throne, and though the unhappy Sophia Dorothea of Zelle never took her place in the English Court, her grand-daughters made it one of the most fashionable ladies' names under the House of Hanover; and though its reign has passed with the taste for ornamental nomenclature, yet the soft and easy sound of Sophy still makes her hold her own.