Crystal

Where the name comes from

• English, from Greek by way of Latin and Old French
  Crystal: clear, transparent quartz. The Greek source word meant "clear ice."
  Greek krystallos, from kryos "frost"
  Crystal is an English word that came to be used as a name. The word reached English through Old French cristal and Latin crystallus. Both come from Greek krystallos, which is built on kryos, "frost." Ancient writers thought rock crystal was a kind of ice that had frozen so hard it could never melt. Old English already had the word, so English speakers have used it for well over 1,000 years.

Crystal across traditions

• Christian (Bible). The Greek word krystallos appears twice in the Book of Revelation. In one passage, a sea of glass "like crystal" lies before God's throne. In the other, the river of the water of life is "clear as crystal." Both passages use crystal as an image of purity and clearness.
• American naming. Crystal grew steadily popular in the US from the 1960s through the 1980s. In the early 1980s it was one of the top five girls' names in Texas and New Mexico. It was also top five in several Southern states and in Hawaii.

Who carried it

• Crystal Eastman (1881–1928): American lawyer, suffragist, and writer. She helped found the American Civil Liberties Union.
• Crystal Gayle (born 1951): American country music singer.

Forms in other languages

Christal, Chrystal, Krystal, Kristal, Krystle, Cristal

Crystal in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.