I found out about straight dope only recently. I’d like to submit a 3 part question: in biblical times, did last names exist that were not related to region of birth? Was Jesus a common name at the time?
(i.e. BOB, JOE) Is there an origin behind the name Christ, Jesus?.. is it Greek meaning “one that is anointed”?
I am in no way an expert on this, but I should be close on these. Others will fill in the blanks.
I don’t think people had “last names” in the sense of “family names” as we think of them.
Jesus’ name would be something like “Jesus, son of Joseph.”
Jesus is the Greek version of the Old Testament name Joshua, which in Hebrew spelled out is something like “Yehoshua,” and means something like “God is my salvation.” There are a number of Hebrew experts on this board, so they can give better details.
“Christ” is from Greek, and just means “the annointed.” This is similar to the (anglicized) Hebrew “messiah,” which also means “the annointed.”
Hope this helps.