Silas (name) The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages. Silas (name) Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus. Silas as a name today comes from the early Christian disciple Silas. He is consistently called "Silas" in Acts, but the Latin Silvanus, which means "of the forest," is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter; it is likely that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas," or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus." It has been suggested that Silas is the Greek
Christian (given name) Christian (given name) Christian originated as a Baptismal name used by persons of the Christian religion. It is now a given name born by males, and by females as Christiana and other feminized variants. An historically commonly used abbreviation, used for example on English 17th century church monuments and pedigrees, is "Xpian", using the Greek Chi Rho Christogram "Χρ", short for "Χριστός", Christ. The Greek form of the baptismal name is "Χριστιανός", a Christian. The name denotes a follower of Christ, thus a Christian. It has been used as a given name since the Middle Ages, at first as a