# why is Jesus a common name in Spanish-speaking countries but nowhwere else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980 "2012-07-21T18:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/1 "2012-07-21T18:55:46Z")
I’ve met a few Hispanic fellows in my day named Jesus. But i’d be stunned to be introduced to Caucasian with the English pronunciation of the same name. Why the discrepancy? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/2 "2012-07-21T20:37:59Z")
Names, like words, can be different in different languages. Jesus is a Greek variation of Yeshi or maybe Yeshua. The English version is Joshua. You probably know a few people with that name. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/3 "2012-07-21T20:46:37Z")
Many Hispanics are Caucasians. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/4 "2012-07-21T20:53:30Z")
> [@Julius\_Henry](#): > > Names, like words, can be different in different languages. Jesus is a Greek variation of Yeshi or maybe Yeshua. The English version is Joshua. You probably know a few people with that name. In addition to this, while I don’t speak Arabic at all I believe “Isa” is both the Arabic version of the name “Jesus” and a fairly common given name for boys. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/5 "2012-07-21T20:55:13Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > In addition to this, while I don’t speak Arabic at all I believe “Isa” is both the Arabic version of the name “Jesus” and a fairly common given name for boys. You are correct. [Jesus (name) in other languages.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_(name)#Other_languages) I like Estonian and Finish: Jeesus. But those guys love their double vowels… ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/6 "2012-07-21T22:04:31Z")
> [@Julius\_Henry](#): > > Names, like words, can be different in different languages. Jesus is a Greek variation of Yeshi or maybe Yeshua. The English version is Joshua. You probably know a few people with that name. Okay, but we don’t call Jesus Joshua. In English, they’re now different names. In Spanish, Jesus can be the messiah, but he can also be the school principal or the plumber or the carpenter (ha.) Have English-speakers somehow developed a complex about daring to name their kids after the “son of God” that Spanish-speakers haven’t? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/7 "2012-07-21T22:10:33Z")
It’s not just English speakers. It’s not common outside Spanish speaking countries. Although maybe also common in Portuguese speaking countries (I honestly don’t know). Danes, Germans, Russians… they don’t name their kids “Jesus” either. So the question isn’t why it’s taboo in English, the question is why it isn’t taboo in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/8 "2012-07-21T22:57:30Z")
When is it bad luck to be told “Jesus loves you”? When you’re in a Mexican prison. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/9 "2012-07-21T23:02:35Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > Okay, but we don’t call Jesus Joshua. In English, they’re now different names. In Spanish, Jesus can be the messiah, but he can also be the school principal or the plumber or the carpenter (ha.) But are they the same name? Hispanics at my mothers church pronounce it differently: Jesus the plumber is pronounced ‘Hay-Zeus’, while Jesus the Savior is pronounced ‘Jee-sus’. Or is that difference in pronunciation just them adapting to a mostly Anglo congregation? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/10 "2012-07-21T23:04:13Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > But are they the same name? > > Hispanics at my mothers church pronounce it differently: Jesus the plumber is pronounced ‘Hay-Zeus’, while Jesus the Savior is pronounced ‘Jee-sus’. Or is that difference in pronunciation just them adapting to a mostly Anglo congregation? It’s the same pronunciation in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/11 "2012-07-21T23:05:07Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s not just English speakers. It’s not common outside Spanish speaking countries. Although maybe also common in Portuguese speaking countries (I honestly don’t know). Danes, Germans, Russians… they don’t name their kids “Jesus” either. > > So the question isn’t why it’s taboo in English, the question is why it isn’t taboo in Spanish. I thought that might be the case, but I wasn’t in the mood for any research. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/12 "2012-07-21T23:13:50Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > I thought that might be the case, but I wasn’t in the mood for any research. One thing, though. I don’t know how common “Isa” is a name in Arabic speaking countries among Arabic Christians. There are a lot of Arabic speaking Christians in quite a few countries. But in Europe, it appears to be a Spanish thing. For instance, Arabic Christians will refer to “God” as “Allah”. That’s just the Arabic word for “God”, not specific to Muslims. I have a feeling that Isa is not uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/13 "2012-07-21T23:23:11Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Hispanics at my mothers church pronounce it differently: Jesus the plumber is pronounced ‘Hay-Zeus’, while Jesus the Savior is pronounced ‘Jee-sus’. Or is that difference in pronunciation just them adapting to a mostly Anglo congregation? To confirm what **John** said, it’s the same name and pronounced identically in Spanish. The use of the name varies regionally in Latin America. It is quite common in Mexico, but pretty rare here in Panama. I can think of only a few people I’ve met with the name here. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/14 "2012-07-21T23:35:58Z")
From that wikipedia link: Notable modern individuals named Jesus As first name Jesús Alou, baseball player Jesus Baza Duenas, Catholic priest in Guam Jesús Guevara, Venezuelan boxer Jesús Herrera, Mexican long-distance runner Jesús Jiménez Zamora (1823–1897), President of Costa Rica from 1863 to 1866 and 1868 to 1870 Jesus Quintana, character in the film The Big Lebowski Jesús Chucho Sanoja (1926–1998), Venezuelan musician Jesús López-Cobos (b. 1940), Spanish conductor Jesús Martínez (b. 1976), Mexican boxer Jesús Navas, Spanish football player Jesús Pérez (b. 1971), Colombian boxer Jesús Chávez (b. 1972), Mexican boxer Jesús Pérez (b. 1984), Venezuelan cyclist GG Allin was originally named Jesus Christ Allin James Jesus Angleton, Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counter-Intelligence of the CIA Wow, one guy even had the “Christ” part. I’m godsmacked over that! But you can see that it’s several different countries, including Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/15 "2012-07-22T00:22:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wow, one guy even had the “Christ” part. Maybe his mom didn’t want her parents to know she was having sex. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/16 "2012-07-22T01:58:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > To confirm what **John** said, it’s the same name and pronounced identically in Spanish. And while at it, the Old Testament hero is called “Josué” in Spanish, so that is not it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/17 "2012-07-22T02:08:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s not just English speakers. It’s not common outside Spanish speaking countries. Although maybe also common in Portuguese speaking countries (I honestly don’t know). Danes, Germans, Russians… they don’t name their kids “Jesus” either. > > So the question isn’t why it’s taboo in English, the question is why it isn’t taboo in Spanish. But English-speaking lands have all sorts of people named with some variation of “Christ” though: Chris, Krista, Christiane, Christopher, etc, etc, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/18 "2012-07-22T02:10:59Z")
> [@Julius\_Henry](#): > > Names, like words, can be different in different languages. Jesus is a Greek variation of Yeshi or maybe Yeshua. The English version is Joshua. You probably know a few people with that name. It _might_ be accurate to say that the name of the biblical Jesus, when put into modern English, ought to be Joshua. But I’m not so sure about Spanish. it seems from [Wikipedia](http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josu%C3%A9_%28personaje_b%C3%ADblico%29) that the biblical Joshua (Moses’ disciple), and the book named for him, are called “Josué” in Spanish, rather than the “Jesus” suggested by **Julius Henry**. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/19 "2012-07-22T02:42:59Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > I’ve met a few Hispanic fellows in my day named Jesus. But i’d be stunned to be introduced to Caucasian with the English pronunciation of the same name. Why the discrepancy? There are Caucasians in Spain and Latin America with the name Jesus ---
**Author:** ![Victor\_Charlie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7ea924/32.png) [@Victor\_Charlie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victor_Charlie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/20 "2012-07-22T02:52:32Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > There are Caucasians in Spain and Latin America with the name Jesus Yeah, that was noted above. I overstepped my generalization a bit much. But I did say a Caucasian with the _English_ pronunciation. I’m betting there are no Spaniards or Argentinians pronounced Jee-sus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980.md?page=2)