在英語裡,傳統上「紀元前」是用「BC」來代表,「紀元後」是用「AD」代表;「BC」是「Before Christ」(基督前)的首字母縮寫,基督徒常譯為「主前」;而「AD」則是拉丁文「Anno Domini」(在主之年)的縮寫,基督徒常譯為「主後」[1]。現代由於西曆紀元的通用和標準化,為避免非基督徒的反感[1]以及文化、意識形態上的爭議,也為了分清基督正確出生年份的訛誤(耶穌並非出生于公元1年),英語中越來越常用「BCE」和「CE」來分別代表「紀元前」和「紀元後」;「CE」是「Common Era」的縮寫,意為「公元」,而「BCE」是「Before the Common Era」的縮寫,意為「公元前」,但許多人基于各種因素仍然使用「BC」[2][3][4],「AD」则略去不寫。而「CE」也被一些人認為是「Christian Era」(基督紀年)的縮寫。
^Irvin, Dale T.; Sunquist, Scott (2001). History of the World Christian Movement. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. xi. ISBN 0-567-08866-9. Retrieved 2011-05-18. The influence of western culture and scholarship upon the rest of the world in turn led to this system of dating becoming the most widely used one across the globe today. Many scholars in historical and religious studies in the West in recent years have sought to lessen the explicitly Christian meaning of this system without abandoning the usefulness of a single, common, global form of dating. For this reason the terms common era and before the common era, abbreviated as CE and BCE, have grown in popularity as designations. The terms are meant, in deference to non-Christians, to soften the explicit theological claims made by the older Latin terminology, while at the same time providing continuity with earlier generations of mostly western Christian historical research.
^Andrew Herrmann. BCE date designation called more sensitive. Chicago Sun-Times. 27 May 2006 [2016-09-18]. (原始内容存档于2017-08-10). Herrmann observes, "The changes – showing up at museums, in academic circles and in school textbooks – have been touted as more sensitive to people of faiths outside of Christianity." However, Herrmann notes, "The use of BCE and CE have rankled some Christians"
From Our Readers: Ancient Manuscripts—How Are They Dated?. Awake! (Jehovah's Witnesses). 2009 [2023-10-14]. (原始内容存档于2018-04-22). Although A.D. (Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of our Lord") and B.C. (before Christ) are used in lands where professed Christianity predominates, we have chosen to use the terms C.E. (Common Era) and B.C.E. (Before the Common Era).