# The name 'Jesus'



## davidl243

Hi all,
I know that in Spanish, the name 'Jesús' is quite a common christian name for boys, but in English the idea of someone being called 'Jesus' is quite risible - the name just doesn't exist in the English language (if anyone has evidence to the contrary please let me know). 

Is the name 'Jesus' a common name in any other languages? And do people with that name have difficulties when they go abroad?

(Note to mods - maybe this should be in the 'Other Languages' forum rather than here - if you think so feel free to move it  )


----------



## cyanista

Recently I was astonished to learn that Jesus and Angel belong to top 100 American male names! Unfortunately, I cannot find the statistics right now.


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

It appears quite frequently in many languages in its original form:  Joshua.


----------



## davidl243

cyanista said:
			
		

> Recently I was astonished to learn that Jesus and Angel belong to top 100 American male names! Unfortunately, I cannot find the statistics right now.


 
Wow! I assume though that that is due to Hispanic immigration (and Jesús) rather than Americans taking a liking to the name Jesus, but I still find that a remarkable statistic!


----------



## Aupick

The one exception, the one person named Jesus that I can think of in the anglophone world, is the one-time director of the CIA, James Jesus Angleton. Strictly speaking it's a middle name, not a first name, but he tended to be known by both, as in the Wikipedia article on him.

But generally I think it would sound rather presumptuous to name your child Jesus.


----------



## davidl243

From that said Wikipedia article: 

"His middle name came from his maternal grandfather and accordingly followed the Spanish pronunication with the accent on the second syllable"

So it looks like there really is nobody...But what about languages other than Spanish?


----------



## cyanista

I looked it up and Jesus is #129 according to U.S. Census Bureau. No, it doesn't make it in the first hundred but it still means that there are 226 thousand males called Jesus in the USA. Perhaps, as you say, most of them are of Hispanic origin.
By the way, Joshua is #38, and Angel "only" #205. 

Source


----------



## Zakalwe

In France, i can't imagine someone being called _Jésus_, why not call someone _Dieu _also 
But yes in Spain, i know lots of people with the name _Jesus_, but as the pronunciation is different from the french one, it just doesn't bother me.


----------



## Saoul

Here in the SUPER Catholic Italy, as far as I know, there's not even the slightest chance you can find a Gesù, or Cristo! 

I don't think any Jesus would have any problem in Italy with such a name...
maybe also because of the difference between the two pronunciations! 
I don't immediatly think about Gesù, if I meet some "Jesus".


----------



## danielfranco

Even though I'm originally from Mexico, I still think it's very peculiar that, in a country like Mexico where more than 90% of the population is Catholic, parents often name their children "Jesus". And if they can get away with it, they will add for good measure "José" (Joseph) and "Maria" (Mary). I know quite a few men named with all three: "José María Jesus"
I suppose it's out of reverence that they do it...
Dan F


----------



## fenixpollo

I think that the name _jesús_ falls into a category of other religious names common in Spanish: _concepción_, _salvador_ and _dolores_ are some that come to mind.  

I mean, if naming your daughter "pain" or "conception" is respectful towards Christianity, then naming your son after the religion's savior is all the more so, right?


----------



## zebedee

At the risk of veering off-topic, when I first arrived in Spain there were quite a few names, Jesús included, which seemed very strange to me when I translated them to English. I can still think of a few examples:

Pilar = Pillar
Dolores = Pains
Concepción = Conception
Inmaculada = Immaculate

However now I've been here a while and gone past the stage of translating, I've accepted them as what they are: just names. I have a good friend (girl) called "Maria Jesús" who is just that, Maria Jesús.


----------



## Vanda

I think Jesus is a common name in Latin countries mainly, (with small language adaptations) because of their religion origins, Catholic primarily. *Nowadays* it´s difficult to find many children named Jesus in my country.


----------



## davidl243

Vanda said:
			
		

> I think Jesus is a common name in Latin countries mainly, (with small language adaptations) because of their religion origins, Catholic primarily. *Nowadays* it´s difficult to find many children named Jesus in my country.


 
So are you saying that it *used to be *a common name in Portuguese but no longer is? Is this the same for Italian/French etc.?


----------



## Vanda

Yeah, I mean that. IT doesn´t mean you can´t find it anymore, though. 
Nowadays people prefer naming their children Ronaldo...


----------



## Residente Calle 13

It might have to do with the Spain's history. Maybe the Muslim Conquest or perhaps the Inquisition. Portugal has a similar history.

BTW, I have a Muslim friend named Issa (Jesus in Arabic).


----------



## Fernando

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> It might have to do with the Spain's history. Maybe the Muslim Conquest or perhaps the Inquisition. Portugal has a similar history.



I know it is incredible, but there are things in Spain that has little to do with Muslim rule or Inquisition.

As said before, María Jesús (Mary Jesus) used to be a common female name, while José María (Joseph Mary) is still a common male name, as well as María José (Mary Joseph) for females.


----------



## Residente Calle 13

Fernando said:
			
		

> I know it is incredible, but there are things in Spain that has little to do with Muslim rule or Inquisition.
> 
> As said before, María Jesús (Mary Jesus) used to be a common female name, while José María (Joseph Mary) is still a common male name, as well as María José (Mary Joseph) for females.



That might be true but those names you mention were and are common in many countries, many, where Jesus is not and has never been a common name.


----------



## oxazol

Why is it so strange if the most comon name in the world is : Mohamed, Mohamma or similar...? This is the muslim profet as Jesus was for some catholics and jewishs.

I would like to say that some years ago. (maybe around 20-30) in Spain you cannot called your sons as you wanted. It was necessary a religous first name as Jesus, José, Maria or directly a saint's name. You couldn't call your son for example Jonathan just like this.
(It's very funny for example sometimes when you see names such us Jonathan Jesús, or a mix like this.


----------



## Residente Calle 13

oxazol said:
			
		

> Why is it so strange if the most comon name in the world is : Mohamed, Mohamma or similar...? This is the muslim profet as Jesus was for some catholics and jewishs.
> 
> I would like to say that some years ago. (maybe around 20-30) in Spain you cannot called your sons as you wanted. It was necessary a religous first name as Jesus, José, Maria or directly a saint's name. You couldn't call your son for example Jonathan just like this.
> (It's very funny for example sometimes when you see names such us Jonathan Jesús, or a mix like this.



The thing is that *Jesus *is not only common in Spain. 

The difference to me is that *Mohammed *seems to be a common name in Muslim countries, independent of language, and *Jesus *is only common in Catholic countries where Spanish is spoken.


----------



## Zakalwe

I don't know anyone in France with the name Jésus, even someone from the past.

Here in Spain in my company, we have 6 Jesús' firstnames among 300 employees:
- 3 x Jesús
- Jesús Francisco
- Jesús María
- Manual Jesús

PS: And 32 employees with a firstname starting with José, 24 with Maria and 19 with Juan !


----------



## Outsider

In Portuguese, the name Jesus is employed as a family name (_de Jesus_, usually). As a given name, I don't think I've ever seen it.


----------



## Residente Calle 13

Thank you for ruining my perfectly good theory, Outsider. 

You're right. If my theory is correct you should know alot of Portuguese and Brazilian people named Jesus.

Rats! Foiled again!


----------



## Outsider

Well, according to Vanda it used to be a common name in Brazil, though, to be honest, I was surprised to read that. As a first name, at least, _Jesus_ is not common in Portugal at all, and as far as I am aware it never was. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to find it in compound given names, such as _*Maria de* Jesus_, and some people do have _(de) Jesus_ as a family name.


----------



## Residente Calle 13

Outsider said:
			
		

> Well, according to Vanda it used to be a common name in Brazil, though, to be honest, I was surprised to read that. As a first name, at least, _Jesus_ is not common in Portugal at all, and as far as I am aware it never was. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to find it in compound given names, such as _*Maria de* Jesus_, and some people do have _(de) Jesus_ as a family name.



Well, so was I. In all the years I have been following football, I have never heard of a Brazilian or a Portuguese footballer named "Jesus".


----------



## Vanda

As I´ve told before, it used to be common. In my state, the most traditional in the country and also in the Northeast region, there are many Jesus from the older generations. 
Our soccer players aren´t from the generation that used to name their children Jesus. That´s why I said *nowadays* they prefer naming children Ronaldo. BTW how many Brazilian Ronaldos are there all over European soccer teams?


----------



## Outsider

This is an interesting topic!



			
				Vanda said:
			
		

> As I´ve told before, it used to be common. In my state, the most traditional in the country and also in the Northeast region, there are many Jesus from the older generations.


Vanda, would those people be just named Jesus, or would there be another given name, like for instance Jesus Miguel? And, in the latter case, were they commonly known as Jesus, or as Miguel (or perhaps Jesus Miguel)?



			
				Vanda said:
			
		

> Our soccer players aren´t from the generation that used to name their children Jesus. That´s why I said *nowadays* they prefer naming children Ronaldo. BTW how many Brazilian Ronaldos are there all over European soccer teams?


I've lost count. And if you include the Ronaldinhos you have even more. 

For the speakers of other languages who may find all this a little presumptuous, the point of naming one's children after holy people is not to imply that they are special, but to do a homage to people whom one reveres.

As for the name Dolores, I think it's a shortening of María de las Dolores. The "pains" here are the pains of childbirth.


----------



## Vanda

Yes, Outsider, there are many older Jesus as first names and a million more Jesus compound or last names, mainly XXXX de Jesus, or Maria de Jesus, or Teresinha de Jesus and so on.
I didn´t mean to be presumptuous, what I meant is that nowadays our people are not so religious as they used to be. They ´d rather give their children " famous" mundane names than names they consider sacred.


----------



## Outsider

Vanda said:
			
		

> I didn´t mean to be presumptuous, what I meant is that nowadays our people are not so religious as they used to be. They ´d rather give their children " famous" mundane names than names they consider sacred.


I didn't want to suggest you were being presumptuous,Vanda. My apologies for the misunderstanding. It's just that people who speak other languages find the habit of naming one's children after the Saviour himself a little awkward, as was expressed by some of them on the first page of this thread.


----------



## maxiogee

Whilst we tend not to use most of the names listed earlier, _Dolores_ is a common name in Ireland but would be seen here as deriving from _dolours_ which means sorrows. One of the old personifications of Ireland was "Deirdre of the sorrows" and this may have facilitated the acceptance of Dolores. Most Irish children - up until about the 1980s would have been named for Christian saints.


----------



## Fernando

As Outsiders have said Dolores < María de los Dolores (literally, Mary of the Pains -or sorrows, as maxiogee has pointed out-). It is the same for Inmaculada  < María de la Inmaculada Concepción (Mary of the Inmaculate Conception). The same name of the Virgin gave Concepción.

Nevermind, they called themselseves Lola (<Dolores), Inma (<Inmaculada) and Conchita (<Concepción).


----------



## mansio

You have also Remedios (drugs to heal) from Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, Pilar (pillar) from Nuestra Senora del Pilar, Lourdes from Notre Dame de Lourdes, Lupe from Guadalupe from Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.

In France no one has the name Jesus. The only "jesus" I know of is a kind of sausage from Eastern France.


----------



## teqyre

mansio said:
			
		

> In France no one has the name Jesus. The only "jesus" I know of is a *kind of sausage* from Eastern France.


I guess you can get them sizzled, fried or crucified.

In the English-speaking world, giving your child the same name as the Son of God would kind of seem like bad taste somehow (a bit like my joke above).


----------



## Fernando

I guess that "Joshua" is not related at all with Jesuchrist.


----------



## mansio

Joshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus, a little bit anglicized.


----------



## davidl243

Something I find interesting, which was mentioned earlier, is how Muslims, arguably more sensitive about their prophet Mohammed (eg the prohibition of images depicting him) but see no problem in naming their children after him, whereas (most) Christians would see it as ridiculous, and somewhat blasphemous, to name their child 'Jesus', as if they were comparing their child to the son of God...


----------



## Outsider

Clearly, it's a matter of custom, as _many_ Christians don't see anything ridiculous or blasphemous at all about naming their sons 'Jesus'.


----------



## Fernando

mansio said:
			
		

> Joshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus, a little bit anglicized.



I know. I mean usual people do not relate them. There is some shame in calling your child "Jesus" while there is not when naming him "Joshua". Obviously, I refer to Christian families, not Jewish ones, for them Joshua is just another Hebrew name.


----------



## teqyre

mansio said:
			
		

> Joshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus, a little bit anglicized.


You're right, but the fact is that for most English speakers the Son of God is known as Jesus, and regardless of whether there may be variations of the same name, most people wouldn't relate them with him.


----------



## mansio

Teqyre

The French sausage called a jesus looks like a regular sausage (cylindrical), but formerly it had a rough shape, was rather big and had to be hold together by a string. It looked like the wrapped up baby Jesus in the crib. Hence its name.


----------



## mansio

Teqyre

Joshua/Jesus was a very common name among Jews in Biblical times.


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

Back-tracking a bit to talking about naming male children Jesus Maria Jose and equivalents:

in Quebec, although we don't hear Jesus as a name, you do still see girls named Marie Joseph and boys named Joseph Marie.

There's a really cute song by Marie-Lynn Hammond called "La Jeune Mariee", listing the names of each new child:  Marie-Celeste, Marie-Joseph, Marie-Ange, and finally a little boy:  Joseph Jean Marie.

All this reminds me of an old joke:  If Jesus was a Jew, why did he have a Mexican name?


----------



## diegodbs

> in Quebec, although we don't hear Jesus as a name, you do still see girls named Marie Joseph and boys named Joseph Marie.


 
In Spain too. 
Boys can be named: José María, Jesús María, etc.
and girls: María José, María Jesús, etc.


----------



## Whisky con ron

Que escándalo por un simple nombre!  Nada, Jesús es común en español y listo!  No llamen a los Jesuses "Yisus" y ya está.  Pronúncienlo en Español.

En Venezuela también le decimos chucho a los Jesus.


----------



## natasha2000

In Serbia, and in all ex Yugoslavia you will not find a single Jesus (in Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/etc... - Isus)

I have a theory for why Spanish people call their children by names of Saints and the Jesus. 
There is a name Vuk in Serbian, which means wolf. Many centuries ago, people used to give this name to children in order to protect them, as if they would be giving also the strengh of an animal to a child together with the name. Maybe this is a Slavic custom, since there is also a very common Russian name, LAv which means lion.
So, I was wondering if Spanish people used to give the names of Saints to their children for the same reason?
It's just a thought....


----------



## Outsider

Naming children after the Virgin Mary and the saints is definitely a Catholic tradition. For instance, in the liturgic calendar, each day of the year is devoted to a saint, and some priests used to baptize children with the name of the sain of the day.


----------



## natasha2000

Outsider said:
			
		

> Naming children after the Virgin Mary and the saints is definitely a Catholic tradition.


 
I agree... But only partially, because I would not say only catholic, but Christian, since Orthodox nations also have names like Paul (Pavle), Mary (Marija), Peter (Petar), Joseph (Josip, Josif), John (Jovan, Ivan), etc... but not Jesus. 

On the other hand, we saw here that in Italy, which is also a catolic country, there is no custom to name boys Jesus, Croatia neither, and they are also a catholic country, Slovenia too, Poland (I wouldn't be sure 100%, but I tend to think the same)....

May I remind that the original question was not about all the saints, but only about the name of Jesus....


----------



## maxiogee

Outsider said:
			
		

> Naming children after the Virgin Mary and the saints is definitely a Catholic tradition. For instance, in the liturgic calendar, each day of the year is devoted to a saint, and some priests used to baptize children with the name of the sain of the day.



.....and some days are 'devoted' to several different saints. Which is handy if you don't want to call your son "Agnes"!


----------



## Outsider

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> On the other hand, we saw here that in Italy, which is also a catolic country, there is no custom to name boys Jesus, Croatia neither, and they are also a catholic country, Slovenia too, Poland (I wouldn't be sure 100%, but I tend to think the same)....


Judging from the replies in this thread, it's mostly a custom of Spanish speaking countries.


----------



## Javier-Vega

Outsider said:
			
		

> Judging from the replies in this thread, it's mostly a custom of Spanish speaking countries.



However, I do remember that the star of the Bulgaria national soccer team was named "Hristo" (Christ).


----------



## davidl243

Javier-Vega said:
			
		

> However, I do remember that the star of the Bulgaria national soccer team was named "Hristo" (Christ).


 
I remember him too, great player - but does Hristo really mean Christ??? Sure it's not just Cristopher/Chris? I am really hoping there are people in Bulgaria called Christ, but I somehow doubt it...

*EDIT* - Well I just found the title of the film "Passion of the Christ" in Bulgarian is (translitterated by me, so probably wrongly): strastite *hristovi*, so it could be right...


----------



## Outsider

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> I agree... But only partially, because I would not say only catholic, but Christian, since Orthodox nations also have names like Paul (Pavle), Mary (Marija), Peter (Petar), Joseph (Josip, Josif), John (Jovan, Ivan), etc... but not Jesus.


I suppose Protestants abandoned the custom because they saw it as idolatrous.


----------



## natasha2000

Javier-Vega said:
			
		

> However, I do remember that the star of the Bulgaria national soccer team was named "Hristo" (Christ).


 
Yes, you're right...
Is Hristo o Hristev? Sorry, I am not much into soccer... If it is Hristev, then it would be a surname, not a first name.... But, as I said, I wouldn't know about football...


----------



## natasha2000

Outsider said:
			
		

> I suppose Protestants abandoned the custom because they saw it as idolatrous.


Hmmm...
You want to say that in protestant countries there are no Peters, Pauls or Maries?


----------



## natasha2000

davidl243 said:
			
		

> I remember him too, great player - but does Hristo really mean Christ??? Sure it's not just Cristopher/Chris? I am really hoping there are people in Bulgaria called Christ, but I somehow doubt it...
> 
> *EDIT* - Well I just found the title of the film "Passion of the Christ" in Bulgarian is (translitterated by me, so probably wrongly): strastite *hristovi*, so it could be right...


 
I am 99% sure it means Christ....

But then, wouldn't Christopher be also some version of Christ? What do English natives think?


----------



## davidl243

His name was Hristo Stoichkov, but after Googling a little bit i found out that the name is the equivalent of Christopher, but also means 'Christ', meaning that they don't differentiate between the two...But this seems like a very complicated issue whos place is not in this thread....

My original question was regarding the name Jesus, and so far it is only in Spanish (and perhaps Arabic, 'Issa') that it is used as a boy's name. It would be interesting to know why the Spanish language is the only one to have this tradition, but I think that would take some rather extensive research...


----------



## Outsider

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> Hmmm...
> You want to say that in protestant countries there are no Peters, Pauls or Maries?


The names are used, but people are not baptized after saints (I think).



> Christopher
> 
> masc. proper name, lit. "Christ-bearing." In medieval legend he was a giant (one of the rare virtuous ones) who aided travellers by carrying them across a river.





			
				davidl243 said:
			
		

> My original question was regarding the name Jesus, and so far it is only in Spanish (and perhaps Arabic, 'Issa') that it is used as a boy's name.


And Portuguese, though not as much, nowadays. (See Vanda's replies.)


----------



## Residente Calle 13

davidl243 said:
			
		

> My original question was regarding the name Jesus, and so far it is only in Spanish (and perhaps Arabic, 'Issa') that it is used as a boy's name. It would be interesting to know why the Spanish language is the only one to have this tradition, but I think that would take some rather extensive research...



Well, I would say definitely Arabic as well.

Here is what wikipedia says :


_Isa_ is also a given name for Arab Muslim men, equivalent to _Isa_ (a name given in many Christian cultures for male children). 



source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isa

Of course, I'm the one with the Arab Muslim friend named Issa (his transliteration) so I'm more inclined to believe this article.


----------



## thuja

there is also "diosdado" which I don't believe is now very  common in Spain or Latin America, but appears frequently in the Philippines,  as a given and a family name.  And always reminds me of that english-language put-down: "he thinks he's god's gift to the world".

So it comes to this: "Jesús", pronounced in the Spanish fashion, is a perfectly acceptable given name. But "Jesus", pronounced in the English way, is silly and presumptuous, and if you were so imprudent as to name your son that he would be the butt of jokes throughout his life.


----------



## mansio

Residente Calle 13

You are right Muslims use Jesus' name as a first name too. 
But the "sacredness" of the name is not the same in Christian countries than in Muslim ones. For Muslims `Iisaa is only a prophet.


----------



## Residente Calle 13

I agree, Mansio.


----------



## tatis

Well, when I first moved to the U.S. from my native country which is México, I used the English translation of my siblings names when talking about them.  For Jorge, I used George, for José, Joseph, for Juan, John, etc (I have many) One of them is Jesús.  As the time went by, I just felt somewhat unconfortable using the English Jesus to refer to my brother Jesús since here it is only used to refer to Jesus Christ.  Ever since I noticed that, I say it in Spanish to give respect to the name of Jesus Christ.  I even noticed the other day while watching the news, the person giving the news was mentioning the name of a man who had been arrested with the name of Jesus, and his cooworker immediately corrected him and asked him to say Jesús, and not Jesus.


----------



## MarcB

Arab christians also have the name Isa/Jesus.


----------



## mansio

MarcB

I think that Arab Christian are more likely to use the name Yasû` than the name `îsâ which is more Muslim.
Btw, the linguistic origin of `îsâ is not exactly known. If someone has an idea?


----------



## maxiogee

MarcB said:
			
		

> Arab christians also have the name Isa/Jesus.



How interesting. The Irish for Jesus is 'Íosa' which is pronounced as _e(uh)sah. _It is not a name which would be given to anyone.


----------



## MarcB

Yasu is an alternate of Isa. Muslims exclusively use Isa Christians use both.


----------



## mansio

MarcB

Let's not omit the consonant `ayin or 3ayin which most of the time is dropped from the Hebrew and Arabic versions of Jesus' name in Latin script transcription.

I think the two reasons why that letter is omitted are that there are no signs for it on our keyboards and that it is nearly unpronunceable to westerners.

When you do not omit the 3ayin you immediately notice that it stands at the end of the Hebrew/Aramaic name of Jesus and in the Arabic name at its beginning.


----------



## Brioche

Saoul said:
			
		

> Here in the SUPER Catholic Italy, as far as I know, there's not even the slightest chance you can find a Gesù, or Cristo!


 
But there are plenty of Italians called *Salvatore *(Saviour) which is really the same thing.


----------



## maxiogee

Brioche said:
			
		

> But there are plenty of Italians called *Salvatore *(Saviour) which is really the same thing.



It's not really the same - Jesus was his _name_, Saviour was his _designation._


----------



## natasha2000

Brioche said:
			
		

> But there are plenty of Italians called *Salvatore *(Saviour) which is really the same thing.


 
Yeah, but the original question was the very same name Jesus, and not any name referring to Jesus, including Christ,which, as we saw, exists in Bulgarian laguange, but it does not answer the original question. The same refer to Salvatore.


----------



## BehindtheDoor

I know this is an old threat but I think that I know the (possible) answer.

Some days ago a guy asked the same question in a History forum that I frequent. According to the man who answered him, the right to name kids as "Jesús" was a privilege given to the Spaniards by a Papal Bull in 1571, after the decisive naval victory of Lepanto against the Turks. I don't know if that is the correct answer but it is true that I can't remember any Spaniard in the Middle Ages named "Jesús".


----------



## GEmatt

maxiogee said:


> It's not really the same - Jesus was his _name_, Saviour was his _designation._


 
Hi,
I think there's a good point there, though. It's already been established that in some countries, you just won't find Jesus as a first name. Isn't it possible that in those countries, people use alternatives?  As you say, his designation rather than his name?  "Salvatore" would fit the bill.  I'm guessing names like Dominic in French and English, and Kyriakos in Greek, follow the same principle, as they all mean "Lord". Unless they are just referring to any random man.


----------



## ert

BehindtheDoor said:


> I know this is an old threat but I think that I know the (possible) answer.
> 
> Some days ago a guy asked the same question in a History forum that I frequent. According to the man who answered him, the right to name kids as "Jesús" was a privilege given to the Spaniards by a Papal Bull in 1571, after the decisive naval victory of Lepanto against the Turks. I don't know if that is the correct answer but it is true that I can't remember any Spaniard in the Middle Ages named "Jesús".


Thanks for that. I've always wondered why that name is very common in Spanish-speaking countries, but not anywhere else (at least that I know of). It seems like a feasible explanation to me.


----------



## minicooper

In Greece nobody is called "Jesus" (Ιησούς) at least I´ve never heard it.....
Only "*Χρήστος*" (Chrístos) is used as a name, after Christ.
But Christ is called "*Χριστός*".
So if you see, the accent is different and so is the spelling!


----------



## minicooper

GEmatt said:


> Hi,
> I think there's a good point there, though. It's already been established that in some countries, you just won't find Jesus as a first name. Isn't it possible that in those countries, people use alternatives? As you say, his designation rather than his name? "Salvatore" would fit the bill. I'm guessing names like Dominic in French and English, and Kyriakos in Greek, follow the same principle, as they all mean "Lord". Unless they are just referring to any random man.


 


Kyriakos does not mean Lord. It is a name of another Saint whose nameday is on February 29.

The closest to Salvatore is "Sotíris" (Σωτήρης)


----------



## claudine2006

davidl243 said:


> Hi all,
> I know that in Spanish, the name 'Jesús' is quite a common christian name for boys, but in English the idea of someone being called 'Jesus' is quite risible - the name just doesn't exist in the English language (if anyone has evidence to the contrary please let me know).
> 
> Is the name 'Jesus' a common name in any other languages? And do people with that name have difficulties when they go abroad?
> 
> (Note to mods - maybe this should be in the 'Other Languages' forum rather than here - if you think so feel free to move it  )


Also for an Italian it sounds strange. It sounds like somebody called "God". I don't think Salvatore is the same, because the word is not related only to Jesus Christ.


----------



## pidgeon

I have a friend here in the UK called Jesus, he's not religious, his parents were Christians and yes he does get a lot of stick for it, and because of this diffuculty he always calls himself Joseph; it gets a better reaction than Jesus. 

But I do think that he is one of a kind, people tend to judge him because he is called Jesus and therefore he always introduces himself as Joseph. 

I think people assume that you are extremely egoistic if you call yourself Jesus in the UK, and most christians here seem to think that only the 'real' Jesus is worthy of the name.

Yet, Jesus's parents, Mary and Joseph are common names and no-one gives you a second thought if you are called Mary.

I wonder why....?


----------



## Hakro

In Finland the name Jesus is not used. I suppose it wouldn't be accepted if somebody tried to give this name to a child.

Maria is a common name in Finland, Joseph (in a couple of different forms) is very rare.


----------



## Maja

davidl243 said:


> I remember him too, great player - but does Hristo really mean Christ??? Sure it's not just Cristopher/Chris? I am really hoping there are people in Bulgaria called Christ, but I somehow doubt it...


The accurate name for Christ is Hristos. The  short version, at least in Serbian is "Hrist". I am not sure if that is the case  in Bulgarian, but if it is, then Hristo would just be a version of Jesus'  name.


davidl243 said:


> Well I just found the title of the film "Passion of the Christ" in Bulgarian is (translitterated by me, so probably wrongly): strastite *hristovi*, so it could be right...


The translation in Serbian is "Stradanje Hristovo".


----------



## KateNicole

I don't find the name Jesu's entirely "unusual" because when living in Mexico and when attending mass in Spanish here in the US, I've noticed that Jesus (the savior) is almost always _only _referred to as Jesus _Christ_ (Jesucristo).  For some reason, naming a child Jesuscristo would be very odd to me, while naming a child Jesus is just "normal" to me. . .

 I have a feeling that even parents who name their sons Jesu's might consider it slightly blaspehmous to name a child Jesucristo.  What do you think?  Does anyone know of a man named Jesucristo as opposed to just Jesu's?


----------



## GEmatt

minicooper said:


> Kyriakos does not mean Lord. It is a name of another Saint whose nameday is on February 29.
> The closest to Salvatore is "Sotíris" (Σωτήρης)


 
Hi minicooper,
I won't argue with a native speaker! I just have a friend called Kyriakos, who told me it translates or at least somehow equates to 'Dominic' ("Lord"/"of the Lord") in other languages...

Based on the above & on my own humble research, I understood the root came from _kyrios_, hence my assumption, in the same way that Matthias is also a saint (May 14th), but still means 'gift of the Lord', deriving from the Hebrew... though I may be drawing a false connection, since I don't speak a word of Greek. Or Hebrew, for that matter...


----------



## ireney

I don't know if that is off topic but: Salvatore refers to Jesus being our Savour. The equivalent in Greek is indeed "Sotíris" (Σωτήρης).

Kyriakos does come etymologically from Kyrios which means (when written this way, with a capital) our Lord (same as in English really). So it's "Kyrios" that means "Lord" and not Kyriakos.
*Kyriákos* (the name) comes from *kyriakós* (according to my dictionary) which is an adjective meaning "of the Lord". 

I won't go any further for then it will most certainly be off-topic!


----------



## zerduja

I read from wikipedia the letter "j" did not appear to english until 16th century.before it was written with a "j" it was "iesus".  I believe most hebrews believe the most accurate translation using latin alphabet is "yashua"


----------



## spakh

There are İsa (Jesus), Musa (Moses), Meryem (Mary), etc. in Turkey. As in Islam Jesus is prophet like Muhammed (sav).


----------



## BlueWolf

I didn't know that in countries like Mexico Jesus is a common name. Here in Italy, I've always consider to call a baby "Gesù" a sort of taboo!


----------



## HUMBERT0

KateNicole said:


> I don't find the name Jesu's entirely "unusual" because when living in Mexico and when attending mass in Spanish here in the US, I've noticed that Jesus (the savior) is almost always _only _referred to as Jesus _Christ_ (Jesucristo). For some reason, naming a child Jesuscristo would be very odd to me, while naming a child Jesus is just "normal" to me. . .
> 
> I have a feeling that even parents who name their sons Jesu's might consider it slightly blaspehmous to name a child Jesucristo. What do you think? Does anyone know of a man named Jesucristo as opposed to just Jesu's?


By George I think you've got it!!!!
Will almost always say Jesucristo for our Lord,
It's true when I say just Jesús I  never mean our Lord, nor confussion comes to mind.  I can't call my Lord in spanish just Jesús without sounding like I'm not giving respect to his name. 
We alway say his name in conjuction with some thing else, like:
Jesucristo, Jesús el hijo del Dios altísimo, Jesús de Nazareth, Jesús hijo del Dios viviente, etc.


----------



## mirx

I think you're absolutely right Humberto, we never refer to "Jesus our Lord" with a simple "Jesus", that might be an explanation.

Other names I've heard in Mèxico are.

Juan de Dios. (John of God) quite common by the way.
Cristo. (alone, no other name attached) = Christ.


----------



## mirx

I think you're absolutely right Humberto, we never refer to "Jesus our Lord" with a simple "Jesus", that might be an explanation. and we never use "Jesus" as interjection to mean surprise. like it is used in english.

Jesus. Look at that!!!

Other names I've heard in Mèxico are.

Juan de Dios. (John of God) quite common by the way.
Cristo. (alone, no other name attached) = Christ.


----------



## Isabel04

Hi!!! Here, in Argentina the name Jesus is commonly used. I´ve got a friend with this name.


----------



## Dr. Quizá

mirx said:


> I think you're absolutely right Humberto, we never refer to "Jesus our Lord" with a simple "Jesus", that might be an explanation. and we never use "Jesus" as interjection to mean surprise. like it is used in english.



I don't think that's the reason since in Spain we do call Jesus just "Jesús-period" (maybe not in mass, I don't know this), we use it as interjection and as an "answer" to sneezes too:



> - You know, my son has failed his driving license exam for eighth time.
> - Jeeeeesús. What are you going to do with him?






> - Atchoo!
> - Gesundheit! ¡Jesús!



or



> - ATCHOOOOAAOO!
> - ¡Jesúsmaríayjosé!



We all are going to burn in hell forever, I know.


----------



## yecru

ERASMO_GALENO said:
			
		

> Hola,
> 
> Es curioso como temas religiosos se pueden volver un tabú en los Estados Unidos mientras que otros miles de temas, que sí pueden y son nocivos para los niños y la sociedad en general no lo son.
> 
> En Latinoamérica el nombre Jesús es muy común, pero nadie lo relaciona directamente con Jesucristo. ¿En Estados Unidos relacionan el nombre de una niña llamada Mary con la madre de Cristo? ¿O el nombre John con el de uno de los discípulos de Jesús? Me parece que no, y lo mismo ocurre con el nombre Jesús en Latinoamérica. Es considerado tan normal y a la vez especial como muchos otros nombres.
> 
> Atentamente,
> 
> *Erasmo.*


Hola. Como se puede ver en este hilo anterior, no se trata de los tabúes religiosos específicamente de Estados Unidos/el mundo angloparlante. Según han dicho, no es normal llamar a los niños "Jesús" ni siquiera en otros países católicos y latinos como Portugal, Italia y Francia. Parece que es una cosa que sólo ocurre en los países hispanohablantes. Saludos.


----------



## Dandee

Hola a todos:
No me parece que el nombre "Jesús" sea tan común en Argentina, y en Chile tampoco. En mi vida he conocido solo unas pocas personas que se llaman así. Lo he escuchado más bien combinado y como segundo nombre, como versión femenina "María Jesús" y menos frecuente la masculina "Jesús María".
Creo que por su implicancia religiosa se lo usa con cierta prudencia por sus obvias connotaciones.

Saludos.


----------



## sokol

yecru said:


> Hola. Como se puede ver en este hilo anterior, no se trata de los tabúes religiosos específicamente de Estados Unidos/el mundo angloparlante. Según han dicho, no es normal llamar a los niños "Jesús" ni siquiera en otros países católicos y latinos como Portugal, Italia y Francia. Parece que es una cosa que sólo ocurre en los países hispanohablantes. Saludos.



Exactamente!

In Austria, people were rather bewildered when our footballstar Anton Polster (who played in Spain once) named his son 'Anton Jesus Polster'. Of course, he explained to the media that this would be perfectly okay in Spain, which of course was accepted.

It just illustrates how absolutely unusual it would be to name someone 'Jesus' here.
I'm sure it's the same for Germany and Switzerland and for our Slavic neighbours, as well as for Hungary, and Scandinavia too (even though the latter is thoroughly Lutherian, not catholic).

(I tried to answer in Spanish but I came to the conclusion that my Spanish really is not good enough for that, yet.)


----------



## avok

In Turkey, the name Jesus (İsa) is a common name.


----------



## Linguaphile3000

I have a friend from Bangladesh who's name is "_Isa_"...  I'm guessing this is a carry over from the Arabic "_Issa_".  Interesting to think that it would carry so far east, given that it is such a predominantly Muslim country.  

-LP3000


----------



## elbeto

Zakalwe said:


> In France, i can't imagine someone being called _Jésus_, why not call someone _Dieu _also
> But yes in Spain, i know lots of people with the name _Jesus_, but as the pronunciation is different from the french one, it just doesn't bother me.


Well, I know several Juan de Dios.

EDIT: I don't like naming somebody Jesus nor Dios (de Dios). Just for the record.


----------



## Qcumber

MarcB said:


> Arab christians also have the name Isa/Jesus.


Besides this name, like all the others belonging to the Semitic world, existed among Arabs a long time before Islam and even before Christianity.
BTW
The forename "Jesus" has two equivalents in Arabic.
1) [ʕaisa:] 3aisaa عيسى  used by Muslims
2) [jasu:ʕ] yasuu3 يسوع  used by Christians, hence [jasu:ʕ lmasi:ħ] yasuu3 l masi7  المسيح يسوع  “Jesus the Messiah = Jesus-Christ”.

P.S. I fail to see why people would laugh at a boy named "Jesus". Would they laugh at a girl named "Mary"? ... Perhaps ... some people as so bizarre.



GEmatt said:


> I'm guessing names like Dominic in French and English, and Kyriakos in Greek, follow the same principle, as they all mean "Lord". Unless they are just referring to any random man.


"Dominique" is the French version of the Spanish name of the founder of the Dominican order, whose real name was Domingo de Guzmán (1170-1221).
He is a saint.
French boys and girls called "Dominique" are named after him.


----------



## sokol

Qcumber said:


> P.S. I fail to see why people would laugh at a boy named "Jesus". Would they laugh at a girl named "Mary"? ... Perhaps ... some people as so bizarre.



In Austria, no one would laugh at a boy named 'Jesus' - that is beside the point. It would not sound ridiculous, but - to religious persons - blasphemous.

However, the 'next best' thing, meaning the 'next best Holy names' as considered in Christian (Catholic) view are extremely common here in Austria and in surrounding Catholic countries too:
Maria [as mother of Jesus]
Josef [as father of Jesus] (Sepp, Italian Giuseppe, Seppo, etc.)
Johannes [as the most valued of the evangelists] (Slavic Janez & Jan, Italian Giovanni, Friulian/historic Zuan [don't know if this form still is used], etc.)
(and others)

Or, rather, were extremely common - as (at least in Austria) more exotic names are becoming more and more popular; nowadays, these 'classical  catholic names' are considered old-fashioned and 'rural'.


----------



## cherine

Qcumber said:


> The forename "Jesus" has two equivalents in Arabic.
> 1) [ʕaisa:] 3aisaa عيسى  used by Muslims
> 2) [jasu:ʕ] yasuu3 يسوع  used by Christians, hence [jasu:ʕ lmasi:ħ] yasuu3 l masi7  المسيح يسوع  “Jesus the Messiah = Jesus-Christ”.
> 
> P.S. I fail to see why people would laugh at a boy named "Jesus". Would they laugh at a girl named "Mary"? ... Perhaps ... some people as so bizarre.


I agree with Sokol that those who don't agree with the usage of this name base their opinion on the fear/refuse of blasphemy, rather than ridicule.
Even Spanish speakers -who are the most to use the name Jesus- won't name their child "Jesus Cristo" or "Cristo" because, to them, that's the Lord's name.

As for the Arabic names 'Isa عيسى and Yasu'  يسوع are not equally used: only 'Isa is used (and I think Muslims use it more than Christians), but you'll never see an Arab Christian with the name Yasu' يسوع .

Muslims use the names 'Isa, Mariam (=Marie), Yousef (=Joseph) because they're names of persons well respected in Islam.
No Muslim will call his son Allah or God. Equally, no Christian will name his son Yassu'.


----------



## Qcumber

Thanks a lot Cherine for explaining this crucial distinction.
My point was to remind readers that Arabic-speaking Christians have two names for "Jesus" - something that doesn't seem to exist in the rest of the Christian world.

[afterthoughts]

Besides, in the Scriptures, there are at least four other Jesuses than Jesus of Nazareth the Christ. In a country like Spain where Jesus can refer both to Jesus-Christ and the other Jesuses, calling a boy "Jesus" may not have necessarily meant he was called after Jesus-Christ when the custom emerged in the Middle-Ages, although nowadays I suppose people think of Jesus-Christ.
I also remember now that in French "_un petit jésus_" is sometimes used about a beautiful male baby, and "_mon petit jésus_" is an expression of motherly love to her son.
My impression is that "Jesus" has not the same connotations among Catholics as among Protestants. When you say "Jesus", Protestants like Orthodoxes tend to visualize the Christos Pantocrator, i.e. a thirtyish man with a severe mien. Conversely, Catholics conjure up the image of a lovely babe or a benevolent young man. Of course a gallup poll would be necessary to check this.


----------



## Spectre scolaire

I am trying to look at some limits in time and space for using the names we are talking about – not only the _name_ Jesus, but also the various _designations_ accorded to him, cf. _maxiogee_[#69].



avok said:


> [#94]In Turkey, the name Jesus (İsa) is a common name.


 Well, you’d come across İsa from time to time, but to say that this name is anywhere near ‘widespread’ would be quite an exaggeration. I’d say it is a _rare_ name in today’s Turkey.




ireney said:


> [#82]Salvatore refers to Jesus being our Savour. The equivalent in Greek is indeed "Sotíris" (Σωτήρης).


 Whereas Σωτήρης is a very common name in Greece, the Italian equivalent Salvatore is only found in Southern Italy. It is next to unthinkable to call a boy Salvatore if you live north of ...say, Perugia, and you don’t have close relatives in the south – cf. the case of James Jesus Angleton [#5] (whose mother was Mexican). Those “plenty of Italians called *Salvatore*” referred to by _Brioche_ [#68] most certainly have a geographical distribution (or family allegiance) as indicated.




BehindtheDoor said:


> [#71]the right to name kids as "Jesús" was a privilege given to the Spaniards by a Papal Bull in 1571, after the decisive naval victory of Lepanto against the Turks. I don't know if that is the correct answer but it is true that I can't remember any Spaniard in the Middle Ages named "Jesús".


 This is an interesting _terminus post quem_ for the use of Jesús in Spanish-speaking countries. Could you possibly indicate a source for this Papal Bull, _BehindtheDoor_? [I’d probably have a look at books by Kenneth M. Setton and Fernand Braudel, but I don’t have access to a good library for the time being.]

Why did only the Spaniards get this “dispensation”, as it were, to break a _name taboo_? Many Italians also participated in the Battle of Lepanto, in fact Venice was (in hindsight) an _indispensible_ contributor to the whole undertaking. Nobody in Italy would ever think of calling their son Jesus [Gesù]:



BlueWolf said:


> [#85]I didn't know that in countries like Mexico Jesus is a common name. Here in Italy, I've always consider to call a baby "Gesù" a sort of taboo!


 And in Portuguese –-




Outsider said:


> [#22]In Portuguese, the name Jesus is employed as a family name (de Jesus, usually). As a given name, I don't think I've ever seen it.


 Why this difference from Spain?! Did it become obsolete, or was it never used? Or was it because no Portuguese participated in Lepanto?

Are there any geographical limits _in __Spain_ for the use of the name Jesús?




Vanda said:


> [#26]it used to be common [in Brazil]. In my state, the most traditional in the country and also in the Northeast region, there are many Jesus from the older generations.


 As this tradition hardly came from Portugal, it must have been “imported” from Spanish-speaking countries in South America.(?)




minicooper said:


> [#74]In Greece nobody is called "Jesus" (Ιησούς) at least I´ve never heard it.....
> Only "*Χρήστος*" (Chrístos) is used as a name, after Christ.
> But Christ is called "*Χριστός*".
> So if you see, the accent is different and so is the spelling!


 The man’s name Χρήστος (Chrístos) is based on the adjective χρηστός, “of good ethics”. Exactly as in _ireney_’s example (#82), the adjective [kirjakós] (κυριακός), “pertaining to the Lord” (Κύριος) [kírios], changes the accent when used as a name, hence Χρήστος and Κυριάκος.

This procedure seems to have existed since classical time, cf. the classical adjective φαιδρός, “funny”, becoming Φαίδρος as a name. (This name is probably best known through Racine’s tragedy _Ph__èdre_). 

Interestingly Christ, Χριστός in Greek, does _not_ get a penultima accent *Χρίστος, and the reason is probably that Christ is not considered to be a name, but an epithet with the meaning “anointed”, cf. the verb χρίζω. (That Χριστός is a _calque_ from Hebrew should be of no importance here). To use this epithet as a name requires a suffix: Christ-ianus, cf. Christian, an extremely popular name in English-speaking countries.




Javier-Vega said:


> [#50]However, I do remember that the star of the Bulgaria*n* national soccer team was named "Hristo" (Christ).


 This name obviously came through Byzantium into Church Slavonic.

Taboos are abundant when it comes to things sacred. It is understandable that the Pope had to give a “dispensation” in order to use the name Jesus as a given name – to “immortals”. Where such a dispensation was not in place – and here I think it is correct that this thread was slightly enlarged in scope in order to include _denominations_ - people used various epithets as a means to _approach the holy sphere_, so to say. At the end of the day, it is a matter of _apotropaic_ namegiving of one’s progeny. How people’s efforts in this direction were often limited in time and space so as to not encroach on taboos, is certainly a long story.
 ​


----------



## Spectre scolaire

In connection with _minicooper_’s posting (quoted above) [#74], I’d like to finish with an anecdote (for which there was no space in my main posting [#101]).

Living in Greece some 30 years ago I once took a very crowded city bus during late Easter celebrations – when everybody is going around greeting each other with the formula Χριστός ανέστη [χristós anésti] (accent ), “Christ has risen”.​
At one point an ostensibly pregnant woman entered the bus, and the driver shouted out: “Give a seat to the pregnant lady!” A young man of about 15 immediately got up, and a friend of his quipped loudly “Χρήστος ανέστη [χrístos anésti] (accent ), “Christos ...has risen!”  There was an onset of giggling sweeping through a section of the bus, but most people kept silent. This was probably bordering blaspheme... I personally found the episode rather hilarious – especially because the riposte was so quick, spurred by the coincidence that his friend’s name was Christos. ​The difference between the holy and the profane was in this case nothing more than an accent. In addition, nobody would use the classical verbal form [anésti] to say that somebody had got up from his seat. 
​


----------



## avok

Spectre scolaire said:


> Well, you’d come across Ýsa from time to time, but to say that this name is anywhere near ‘widespread’ would be quite an exaggeration. I’d say it is a _rare_ name in today’s Turkey.
> 
> ​


I did "not" say that the name Jesus is widespread in Turkey. I said it is a "common name" which means "an ordinary name" . The word "common" does not necessarily mean "widespread". Is that clear enough? At least, we have Muslims who bear the name  İsa/Jesus, how many Christian "muhammeds" have you seen in your nomadic life?


----------



## Pedro y La Torre

avok said:


> . The word "common" does not necessarily mean "widespread".



On the contrary, if you say something is common, the majority of the time it means it is widespread. A common name means a name which is widely used.


----------



## chicagriega

In Greek Jesus is Ιησούς. We don't use it as name for the boys and I think that not even priests use it when they change their name to become priests.


----------



## Outsider

I've only just noticed the recent comments to this thread.



Spectre scolaire said:


> And in Portuguese –-
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Outsider said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In Portuguese, the name Jesus is employed as a family name (de Jesus, usually). As a given name, I don't think I've ever seen it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why this difference from Spain?! Did it become obsolete, or was it never used? Or was it because no Portuguese participated in Lepanto?
> 
> Are there any geographical limits _in __Spain_ for the use of the name Jesús?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Vanda said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> it used to be common [in Brazil]. In my state, the most traditional in the country and also in the Northeast region, there are many Jesus from the older generations.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> As this tradition hardly came from Portugal, it must have been “imported” from Spanish-speaking countries in South America.(?)
Click to expand...

Well, Spectre, it could also be that "Jesus" was once as popular in Portugal as it is in Spain, but went out of fashion for some reason. I'm afraid I don't know.

If so, then the use of this name could have simply lasted for a bit longer in Brazil. From what Vanda said, it's not a common name in Brazil today.


----------



## avok

Pedro y La Torre said:


> On the contrary, if you say something is common, the majority of the time it means it is widespread. A common name means a name which is widely used.


 
Hmmm.. I dont know maybe you are right. But to my understanding, a "common name" should be different than " a name commonly used"  I have always though that a common name is a name used by common people, even if it is not widespread. 

ex: Isa is a common Turkish name - which means it is not proper to any one but "anyone" (a common) can have it, "any" Turkish family can call "any" of their son Isa- "but" it is not commonly used. I'll ask the question in the English only forum. 

You also say "the majority of the time" not "always"


----------



## MarX

davidl243 said:


> Hi all,
> I know that in Spanish, the name 'Jesús' is quite a common christian name for boys, but in English the idea of someone being called 'Jesus' is quite risible - the name just doesn't exist in the English language (if anyone has evidence to the contrary please let me know).
> 
> Is the name 'Jesus' a common name in any other languages? And do people with that name have difficulties when they go abroad?
> 
> (Note to mods - maybe this should be in the 'Other Languages' forum rather than here - if you think so feel free to move it  )


Hi!

*Yèsus* in Indonesia is pretty much reserved only for God's son mentioned in the Bible.

The name *Yosua* on the other hand is quite common, and my cousin's son is named *Yèshua*.

Salam,


MarX


----------



## lallitapz

I agree with Saoul when he says in Italy it's very hard (I would say impossible)to find someone whose name is Gesù, I would say impossible. But, at the same time, Salvatore (Saviour) is a very common name.


----------



## pazandina

Since latin american people are very religious (mostly catholic) it`s common we use names related with characters from the Bible, for instance, Jesus, Maria, Jose, David, Juan, etc. But check these out: Rosario (the string of beads), Natividad (birth), Virginia (from virgin). And names of different saints: Lourdes, Guadalupe, Francisco, etc.


----------

