Nonhispanics here in TN would freak out. Not okay at all.
I think this was a running joke on a short-lived 1970s sitcom. One of the main characters was a grumpy WASPy guy who was dismayed that his daughter had married a Hispanic guy and named his grandson “Jesus.” The compromise was that the kid would be nicknamed “Jesse.” Or maybe it was the son-in-law who was named “Jesus.” I can’t quite remember now. I thought the show might be Hello, Larry, or The Ropers, but I haven’t yet been able to confirm either one.
I was raised Jewish, and my partner was raised Muslim. It would make perfect sense to name our baby Jesus.
Based on how often my father used the name when Mom told him what I had done that day, I thought my name WAS Jesus Christ until I turned 10.
[slight hijack]Wow! Another Jew/Muslim combo![/s.h.]
I’m Anglo-Hispanic and grew up bi-cultural. For years, I have told Anglos and Hispanics that Anglos can’t understand why anyone would name a child “Jesus” and Hispanics can’t understand why anyone would name a child “Christian”.
When Mexican singer Cristián Castro was married to Valeria Lieberman(sp?), rumors circulated that he was going to convert to Judaism. I heard someone ask, jokingly, if Castro converted, would he change his name to “Jewish Castro”? The comment was received with a pained and embarrassed silence, but given what I’d been saying for years (about the Jesus/Christian naming thing), I thought it was hilarious!
I live in California. I am of Scottish and Irish descent. If I named my child J-e-s-u-s. Everyone I know would think it very, very weird that I named my child a traditionally Hispanic name. No one would think I was naming him after the son of God.
Even if it was pronounced Geezus (as opposed to Heyzeus).
I’m a white American Catholic of Polish descent. But my wife is a Catholic from Peru. So everyone would assume my wife named the kid.
From the UK, raised C of E, the first time I came across Jesus as a name for anyone other than the Biblical Jesus was in a biography of Che Guevara. I was twelve and it freaked me out. And there was more than one of them in Che’s life! I think ithat pronouned the anglophone way it would still seem like a very odd name for a new baby in Britain .
However, fast forward to my twenties and I knew a punk guy who had renamed himself Jesus. Pretty soon it was just that guy’s name. Then he started going out with a lass called Mary. We’d forget what it sounded like and accidentally freak out people who didn’t know them by casually announcing that Jesus and Mary were expected down the pub.
Oh yes, Salva is also common in Spain, specially in Valencia. If you meet a Salva in Spain, you can bet cash he’ll be from Valencia.
I later realized that we have lots of María Jesuses as well.
And then there’s Leyre…
most monasteries in Spain are presided by an image of Our Lady, as patron of the monastery: Montserrat or La Oliva, to name two. Every girl baptised after those monasteries is named after their patron saint - our Olives are not tiny green fruits, they’re Marías.
During the 20th century, Leyre started being used as a girls’ name, but the patron of Leyre is Our Savior - no intermediaries. Leyres are not Marías, they’re Salvadoras, but it’s because the parents haven’t bothered find out what the name means or where it comes from, not because they actually intended to name their daughter Salva (which, despite the -a, is a boys’ name).
Hay-soos would be okay if the kid had recent Mexican heritage. Jee-zus, though? I’ve never heard of or met anyone with that name. It would be very weird, and I’m not even religious.
Where I live is extremely varied in the types of people here and the names they give their kids, and my daughter’s had friends with all sorts of weird names that none of them have ever noticed as odd. But Jesus would stand out, big time. It’d not be so bad if the kid was Hispanic and the name was pronounced hay-zoos, but pronounced in the English way? Very odd.
it’s the best thing I could do for him.
'cos, you know, nobody fucks with the Jesus.
Well, you’ve probably heard Jesusita in Chihuahua–even if you didn’t know the polka’s name.
It’s been anglicized as the Jesse Polka–or “Jessie Polka” as recorded by Cliff Bruner–his version isn’t available so let’s hear him & The Texas Wanderers perform another old favorite.
Texas is my nation & our culture is mixed. Anybody naming their kid “Jesus” might get a second glance if they didn’t look Mexican but it wouldn’t be a big thing…
Minor nitpick: it’s not just a Mexican thing, it’s a Hispanic thing.
FWIW, many of the Hispanic men of my acquaintance in south-Central Texas named “Jesús” (hey SOOS) either go by the nickname “Chu” or “Chuy”, or they Anglicize the name to “Jesse”.
Naming a child “Jesus” also occurs in Portugal and Brazil. (Although, note that Brazilians, while Latinos, are not Hispanics.)
It would be seen as pretty strange, but my culture is Jewish, so…
I just thought you all should know, according to social security records:
Popularity of the male name Messiah
Year of birth Rank
2010 650
2009 664
2008 703
2007 720
2006 799
2005 904
Never had, and I have no idea why you think I would have. I certainly wouldn’t expect you (or someone from Mexico) to be familiar with Es de hierro or Quisiera ser la hiedra…
My mom’s side of the family are all in Iceland, and we have enough Thors in the family (and variations like Thorgeir, Thorstein, and Thorbjorn) that I never thought of it as an odd name. Jesus, on the other hand, would probably not go over well, as it doesn’t follow naming conventions which were actually part of the law until relatively recently: there was a list of names, and a name from that list had to be used as the child’s first or middle name to keep Icelandic naming culture from drifting away from traditional names.
As an American, I’d find it odd to name one’s child Jesus unless they were from a culture that commonly did so; it’s just not a strong part of Anglophone culture to name one’s child Jesus.
It would be so weird, I don’t have words to say how weird it would be. That applies both to my WASP culture of origin and my neopagan hippie culture of choice.
I could totally get away with Thor. I know an Apollo. My friends’ kids include a Maia and a Ceridwen. I’ve hung out with innumerable Brigids and Rhiannons and Morgans and Branwens. But Jesus? Nuh-uh.