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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?

Flimzy
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brilliant
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    How is this a question about Christianity? – Caleb Jan 12 '12 at 08:40
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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? – Reinstate Monica - Goodbye SE Jan 12 '12 at 09:35
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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 '12 at 14:31
  • @Muke - Yes, I know that. So, do we still have Joshuas among Jews in Israel these days? – brilliant Jan 12 '12 at 14:54
  • @brilliant one of the consultants I hear from occasionally is named Yehoshua. – Peter Turner Jan 12 '12 at 18:26
  • Figured I'd see if I could float a similar question at [english.se] -- Was Christian a proper name before Pilgrim's Progress? – Peter Turner Jan 12 '12 at 18:37
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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 '12 at 18:38
  • @Flimzy - "a blaring lack of research effort. A simple google search for "Jesus name" shows as the first hit a Wikipedia article" - Please note the words "in the Jewish community" in the main body of my question. That page on the wiki, as well as the answers so far given here, considers nations other than Jews. And if you click there on Yeshua (name), you will find that, unlike with this name's equivalents in other languages, the case with this name in Hebrew is not that clear. – brilliant Jan 13 '12 at 00:03
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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". – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 13 '12 at 04:01
  • @Jürgen A. Erhard - "How should some Christians know that?" - Why do you think that Christians cannot know that? – brilliant Jan 13 '12 at 04:11
  • @brilliant: Okay, let me change that "How" into a "Why". Or: why do you think that Christians will (or should) know? You're asking about the Jewish community. Not the Christian community. I know probably quite a bit more about Jewish customs than the average Christian (not talking about people on here, mind you), but why and how should I know anything about current naming customs? Why do you expect anyone else here know that? – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 13 '12 at 04:19
  • Oh, and the answers confirm my view: they all miss the "Jewish community" bit. – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 13 '12 at 04:20
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    If your question is really specific to the Jewish community and Hebrew language, then you should ask on [Judaism.SE]. That question is off topic here and if that's all you want to make this it will be closed here. If you'd like to turn this into a more general question about whether people in the Christian community ever name their children with derivatives of His name, we can keep it, but it needs editing. Meanwhile I would suggest that it would be a much more interesting/expert level question to ask if any Christian traditions have beliefs about special linguistic significance of the name. – Caleb Jan 13 '12 at 10:15
  • @Caleb - I asked this question here because besides getting the knowledge about the fact, I also didn't want to miss on some important observations that might have been made by Christian believers regarding this fact (something that I would have less likely received on the "Jewish Life and Learning"). However, if my question is really so much off-topic here, I don't mind moving it to judaism.se – brilliant Jan 15 '12 at 07:43

5 Answers5

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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".

Caleb
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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. –  Jan 12 '12 at 19:59
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    @SoftwareMonkey: Very interesting. I actually knew that and clean forgot! – Caleb Jan 12 '12 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...

Affable Geek
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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

Gerep
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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.

Jon Ericson
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jason
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    Do you have a source for this? – wax eagle Nov 20 '12 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 '12 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. – Jon Ericson Nov 20 '12 at 23:35
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    See also: Was Barabbas' given name Jesus? – Jon Ericson Nov 21 '12 at 19:29