A diminutive of Christina, from Greek Christos meaning 'anointed one' or 'follower of Christ.'
Christi shares its deep roots with the broader Christian family of names, derived from the Latin Christianus and ultimately from the Greek Christos — "the anointed one," a translation of the Hebrew Mashiach, or Messiah. The feminine forms Christie, Christy, and Christi proliferated across the English-speaking world as both given names and affectionate shortenings of Christina or Christine, the Latinate elaborations that spread through Europe following the Christianization of the Roman Empire. The Ch- spelling of Christi, as opposed to the Scandinavian Kr- form, reflects the French and English orthographic tradition.
It was used across the British Isles and in the American South and Midwest particularly. The name carries an inherently devotional etymology while functioning in everyday life as something simply bright and friendly. Christie Brinkley, the American supermodel and cultural icon of the 1980s, lent the Ch- variant considerable glamour, and Christie's — the renowned London auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie — gave the name an aristocratic English resonance.
Christi reached peak popularity in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, a period when short, vowel-ending feminine names were enormously fashionable. Today it reads as a distinctly vintage American name, warmly nostalgic without feeling archaic — a name of cheerleaders, schoolteachers, and beloved aunts, carrying all the sunny directness of its era.