ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1118
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1118
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From: 
27 Jul 1998


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wrote to us concerning the name <Christian Anthony>, specifically as
the name of an englishman who might have participated in the earliest
Crusades.

Since the earliest crusades took place over a very long time span, we
assume that you haven't decided which Crusade your persona took part in. 
Some relevant facts to help you decide: 

  First Crusade    1096-1110
  Second Crusade   1147-1149
  Third Crusade    1189-1192

Since the Third Crusade was the first in which large numbers of Englishmen
took part, and since the name <Cristian> (in that spelling) first appears
in England about that time, the late-12th/early-13th century would be your
best choice.  The Third Crusade was also Richard Lionheart's crusade, so
you will have a simple way of explaining to people exactly which Crusade
you mean! 

We found mention of a <Thomas filius Cristian>, meaning "Thomas, son of
Christian," in 1228 [1], so the name <Cristian> would be perfect. 

We didn't find the name <Anthony> in England quite so early, but it does
show up within the same century [1,2]:

  <William Antony>   1306 
  <John Antoyne>     1275 
  <John fil. Anton'> 1273  

Putting it all together, the name <Cristian Antony>, meaning "Cristian,
son of Antony," is thus a fine and reasonable name. Note that we have
spelled the name without an 'h' in the two parts of the name, since
spellings with an 'h' were less common in English during your period.
However, virtually all documents in your period were written in Latin.  If
your name had been written down, it might have appeared as <Christianus
filius Antonii>.  This Latin form would only have been used in writing;
for everyday speech you would have called yourself <Cristian Antony>.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.
Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Rouland Carre contributed to this
letter.

In service,
--Walraven van Nijmegen
Academy of S. Gabriel

[1] P.H. Reaney & R.M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_
    (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)  s.nn. Christian, Anthoney 

[2] Charles Bardsley, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_
    (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980)  s.n. Anthony