“And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”
King James Version (KJV)
11:26 And the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch - Here it was that they first received this standing appellation. They were before termed Nazarenes and Galileans.
Ac 11:26 A whole year. A.D. 44; they continued the work with great success. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The Jews called them "Nazarenes" (Ac 24:5) or "Galileans" (Ac 2:7). They called themselves "disciples" (Ac 6:1, etc.), "brethren" (Ac 6:3, etc.) "saints" (Ac 9:13,32,41 26:10). The new term was probably bestowed by the Gentiles in the great city, in default of any other name that seemed appropriate. Here was the first great Gentile church. Outsiders could see that they were not Jews nor pagans, hence they called them after their Lord, just as the first disciples of Plato were called Platonists, and those of Epicurus, Epicureans. The designation "Christians" occurs only twice elsewhere in the New Testament (Ac 26:28 1Pe 4:16), and in both places its use is ascribed to those out of the church; yet it was accepted as honoring the Lord.