CHRISTINE BROWN

(French) form of Christina. It was popular in the medieval period, when it appears to have been used interchangeably with Christian, and again in Britain at the end of the 19th century. In the United States it was particularly popular from the 1950s to the 1970s.

English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brūn or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brūn as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brūngar, Brūnwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.