eat 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."

Another Christian name which comes from a Greek word is _Peter_.
_Petros_ is the Greek word for "stone," and _Petra_ for "rock." The
name _Peter_ became a favourite in honour of St. Peter, whose name was
first _Simon_, but who was called _Peter_ because of the words our
Lord said to him: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
Church."

When the barbarian tribes, such as the English and Franks, broke into
the lands of the Roman Empire and settled there, afterwards being
converted to Christianity, they chose a good many Latin words as
names. In France names made from the Latin word _amo_ ("I love") were
quite common. We hear of _Amabilis_ ("lovable"), _Amadeus_ ("loving
God"), _Amandus_, which has now become a surname in France as _St.
Amand_. In England, _Amabilis_ became _Amabel_, which is not a very
common name now, but from which we have _Mabel_. _Amy_ was first used
in England after the Norman Conquest, and comes from the French
_Amata_, or _Aimee_, which means "beloved."

Another Latin word of the same kind which gave us some Christian names
was _Beo_ ("I bless"). From part of this verb, _Beatus_ ("blessed"),
there was an old English name, _Beata_, but no girl or woman seems to
have been called by it since the seventeenth century. _Beatrix_ and
_Beatrice_ also come from this. The name _Benedict_, which sometimes
became in English _Bennet_, came from another word like this,
_Benignus_ ("kind"). _Boniface_, from the Latin _Bonifacius_ ("doer of
good deeds"), was a favourite name in the early Church, and the name
of a great English sain