Christer is a Swedish and Danish diminutive of Christian. Christian originates in Latin language and means "Christian man". It has been one of the most popular masculine given names over centuries, and in different spellings all over the world. During a period of time, Christian was even used as a feminine given name in the United States. It has always been a popular name within royalty, especially in Scandinavia. Famous bearers include Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author of fairy-tales, and Christian Dior, a French fashion designer.