Besides this general name of _angel_, the name of Michael, the archangel, and Gabriel, the angel of the Annunciation, became favourite names among Eastern Christians. The reason _Michael_ was such a favourite was that the great Emperor Constantine dedicated a church to St. Michael in Constantinople. The name is so much used in Russia that it is quite common to speak of a Russian peasant as a "Michael," just as people rather vulgarly speak of an Irish peasant as a "Paddy." Michael can hardly be called an English name, but it is almost as common in Ireland as Patrick, which, of course, is used in honour of Ireland's patron saint. _Gabriel_ is a common name in Italy, as is also another angel's name, _Raphael_. _Gabriel_ is used as a girl's name in France--_Gabrielle_.
No Christian would think of using the name of God as a personal name; but _Theos_, the Greek word for God, was sometimes so used by the Greeks. A Greek name formed from this, _Theophilos_, or "beloved by the gods," became a Christian name, and the name of one of the early saints.
The name _Christ_, or "anointed," was the word which the Greek Christians (who translated the Gospels into the Greek of their time) used for the _Messiah_. From this word came the name _Christian_, and from it _Christina_. One of the early martyrs, a virgin of noble Roman birth, who died for her religion, was St. Christina. In Denmark the name became a man's name, _Christiern_. Another English name which is like Christina is _Christabel_. The great poet Coleridge in the nineteenth century wrote the beginning of a beautiful poem called "Christabel." The name was not very common before this, and was not heard of until the sixteenth century, but it is fairly common now.
Another favourite Christian name from the name of _Christ_ is _Christopher_, which means the bearer or carrier of Christ, and we are told in a legend how St. Christopher got this name. He had chosen for his work to carry people across a stream which had no bridge over it. One day a little boy suddenly appeared, and asked him to carry him across. The kind saint did so, and found, as he got farther into the stream, that the child grew heavier and heavier. When the saint put him down on the other side he saw the figure of the man Christ before him, and fell down and adored Him. Ever afterwards he was known as _Christopher_, or the "Christ-bearer."