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I mean we still have a lot of men named Mohamed in the Muslim community. Is it the same with the name "Jesus" in the Jewish community? Do we have any evidence of Jewish men named Jesus that have lived since the birth of Christ?

So, the main question is: Has the name "Jesus" ever been used for naming children since the Savior's incarnation?

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    How is this a question about Christianity?
    – Caleb
    Jan 12, 2012 at 8:40
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    @Caleb: I think it's a great question. It's not about doctrine but it is about the implications of the name of Jesus. Does this Name above all names mean people are less likely to reuse it? Jan 12, 2012 at 9:35
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    Note that "Jesus" is the form of the name that's come to us through being translated into Greek. When English borrowed the name directly (though from being applied to a different person) it came out as "Joshua".
    – Muke Tever
    Jan 12, 2012 at 14:31
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    Not only does this question seem off-topic, as it's not about Christianity, but it shows a blaring lack of research effort. A simple google search for "Jesus name" shows as the first hit a Wikipedia article with a list of famous people named Jesus.
    – Flimzy
    Jan 12, 2012 at 18:38
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    In the Jewish community? How should some Christians know that? And why shouldn't they? So, I'd expect it to have been used... as long as it's not seen as "too old" or even "ancient". Jan 13, 2012 at 4:01

5 Answers 5

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Yes, it is actually a common name in many languages. It isn't so popular on English but* I know lots of people in the Spanish, Turkish and Arabic worlds that use various renditions of the name "Jesus". I am sure it is used in many other languages as well. Personally I would never name my kid that but there is nothing to stop anybody from doing so.

*Several people have pointed out my mistake, it exists in English too the quite common name "Joshua".

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    Actually, Joshua is a direct transliteration of the Hebrew Yeshua, of which Jesus is the Greek form. So the name of Jesus is now very prevalent in English too.
    – user32
    Jan 12, 2012 at 19:59
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    @SoftwareMonkey: Very interesting. I actually knew that and clean forgot!
    – Caleb
    Jan 12, 2012 at 20:45
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Remember that the Hebrew Name "Yeshua" is exact English equivalent of "Joshua."

According to the United States Social Security Administration, this was, in 2010, the 11th most popular boy's name - very, very popular, although its still a drop from when it was #3 from 2002 to 2006.

Per the same source, 'Jesus' (which is a fairly common name amongst Hispanics, and is pronounced 'Hey-sus'*) was the 92nd most popular boy's name, down from a peak of 67 in 2003.

Interestingly, neither appears in the list of the top 20 in either 1937 (the oldest complete set) or 1880 (the oldest set altogether).

*Recently, I worked with an Indian developer and a Mexican named 'Jesus', and the Indian refused to pronounce it Hey-sus, but rather G-sus. It was really, really weird...

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  • 92nd among Spanish speakers or 92nd overall? Jan 12, 2012 at 16:40
  • Overall, although note the source - this is only in the US Jan 12, 2012 at 16:43
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There are plenty of people named יְהוֹשׁוּעַ (English transliteration: Yehoshu'a) and יֵשׁוּעַ (English transliteration: Yeshu'a) in the Talmud, both Babylonian and Jerusalem. Each of these would be the equivalent to the Greek Ἰησοῦς (English transliteration: Iēsous) and English "Jesus."

Although not all those mentioned in the Talmud lived after Jesus the Nazarene (some lived during BC era), many did.

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In Brazil I know some Jesus but I'm like Caleb at that point and would never name my kid Jesus

I think that calling someone Jesus looks serious. Imagine a friend of someone called Jesus and someone cursing him because he was late or something, that looks bad.

But according to Psalm 33:14-15 where it reads: “From the place of His dwelling, He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually.” I don't think God is really worried about it, He worries only with the persons heart

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Barabbas' name was Jesus. Many people don't know it because the people who translated the scriptures into English left the original meaning out because of the conflict of interest. When Jesus was before Pilot and Pontius Pilate gave the option to release Jesus (the Christ) or Jesus bar-Abbas (translated son of the father). The later was a rebel leader against the Roman Empire and many thought him a freedom fighter for the Jews. Which is why the wanted him released instead. Jesus was a common name to the Jews, and translated The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua, a name found 27 times in the Hebrew Bible, so we know exactly what his name was. (The name is accented on the second syllable: ye-SHU-a). Yeshua is short for Yehoshua (= Joshua), which means Yahweh is salvation. The first trace of the name is found in connection with Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant.

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    Do you have a source for this?
    – wax eagle
    Nov 20, 2012 at 16:29
  • It was in some old manuscript or manuscripts of Bible, found in Egypt if I remember correctly. Ratzinger/Benedict XVI mentions it in second volume of his Jesus from Nazareth. Unfortunatelly, I don't have the book with me (and I won't fore more than a week).
    – Pavel
    Nov 20, 2012 at 17:28
  • Hi Jason. I added a link to Barabbas' Wikipedia page. It's important to note that the reason he isn't called Jesus in many translations is because few Greek manuscripts have that variation. In any case, since Barabbas is a contemporary to Jesus of Nazareth, I'm not sure that's relevant. The equivalence between Jesus and Joshua is a good point, however. Nov 20, 2012 at 23:35
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    See also: Was Barabbas' given name Jesus? Nov 21, 2012 at 19:29

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