# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/61 "2012-07-25T11:28:45Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Is it possibly Muslim influence on Spanish Christians? It appears that Muslims often take the name of Muhammad (or a variation of). Much of Spain was conquered by the Moors and maybe the custom rubbed off on the Spaniards. > > I have no idea why Muslims take the name of the prophet nor do I know when the Spanish custom started so this may all be bunk. Now THAT sounds to me like the best working hypothesis we have so far. True, it wouldn’t explain why Muslims generally don’t have this taboo, but I don’t think we need to worry about that too much. Looking globally, I’d wager it’s the taboo that’s the exception, not the rule. Think of all the South Asians named Krishna, etc. So, that would be a topic for another thread… How did “Jesus” come to be a taboo personal name? (later removed as taboo in Spain when that region was dominated by Muslims). If the Greek “Christos” was never taboo, that could help us figure out the taboo’s origins. But that’s a matter for a different thread. We still need to confirm, if we can, the working hypothesis answering to THIS thread. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/62 "2012-07-25T13:15:15Z")
Obviously, English-speaking people once did occasionally name their boychildren “Jesus” but every time they were introduced people said “gesundheit” so the practice waned. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/63 "2012-07-25T13:55:43Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > Actually, his father told the mother that the son would be the next messiah, so they named him Jesus Christ accordingly. > > GG Allin grew up to be a punk rock frontman with borderline personality disorder whose act regularly included performing in only a jockstrap, defecating on stage, and smashing his face against the stage and walls until he was covered in his own blood. He also wasn’t Hispanic, so far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/64 "2012-07-25T14:15:44Z")
Obviously, we’ve all been asking the wrong question. What we should be wondering is “Why did Joseph and Mary give their son a Hispanic name?” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/65 "2012-07-25T15:09:01Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Obviously, we’ve all been asking the wrong question. What we should be wondering is “Why did Joseph and Mary give their son a Hispanic name?” Maybe because he was born on a Popsicle stick. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/66 "2012-07-26T03:19:45Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The female version, “Maria de Jesus,” is also quite common in Mexico. The most common nickname for such girls/women is “Chucha,” just as “Chucho” is one of the common nicknames for “Jesus.” > > I’m still curious about the OP’s excellent question – why taboo in many countries, why not taboo in Mexico and a few others? May just be the chance vagaries of history, but may be something more interesting, like some product of the synthesis of Spanish Catholic and indigenous traditions in Mexico (maybe something related to how some Indians adapted certain of their gods to specific Christian “deities,” including Jesus, and so maybe the tradition of naming some kids after the former god was transferred as well.) But I’ll let another Doper do the real research on this. The most common nickname for a person named Jesus is “Chuy”. Around my part of México “chucho” is more commonly used as slang for a dog. My wife’s name is María de Jesús. She hates being called Mary Chuy. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/67 "2012-07-26T03:34:37Z")
There also seem to be plenty of Spanish “Angels” (and Italian “Angelos”) but precious few anglo Angels. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/68 "2012-07-26T03:38:37Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > There also seem to be plenty of Spanish “Angels” (and Italian “Angelos”) but precious few anglo Angels. Good point. But we’ve got [God Shammgod](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/god-shammgod.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2012/03/15-march-madness-legends-where-are-they-now/&h=320&w=273&sz=29&tbnid=l6vDEJMTIYrnIM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=77&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgod%2Bshammgod%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=god+shammgod&usg=__xySfopFnzOE0jRP0UwT6CU1boCg=&docid=dEJrXwATKeM37M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hrsQUJebD4aE8QTj6oGoBw&sqi=2&ved=0CF4Q9QEwAg&dur=614). ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/69 "2012-07-26T03:54:22Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And there are none (or almost none) with the English pronunciation of any name. Jesus in Spanish is hay-SUS. Just like David is dah-VEED and Steven is eh-STAY-bahn. FYI, it’s ‘heh-sus’ and ‘es-steh-bahn’ Spanish letter ‘a’ or ‘e’ are never pronounced as like ‘-ay’ ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/70 "2012-07-26T05:48:15Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > There also seem to be plenty of Spanish “Angels” (and Italian “Angelos”) but precious few anglo Angels. Also quite a few Santos, Rosario, and crucifijo. Never see algo names such saints, rosary or crucifix…well, maybe a rosary here and there. Of course, you also never see anyone in english named July. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/71 "2012-07-26T10:16:48Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > The most common nickname for a person named Jesus is “Chuy”. Around my part of México “chucho” is more commonly used as slang for a dog. > > My wife’s name is María de Jesús. She hates being called Mary Chuy. In Spain _chucho_ usually means mangy dog, too, yet I know Chuchos, Chuchas and even a Chuchín (only called so by his mother, his classmates already found it overly precious when we were in kindergarten). Never met a Crucifijo (I don’t mean they don’t exist, just that I personally haven’t met any - obligatory disclaimer after someone jumped on me for a similar phrasing), although Cruz is very typical of my region both by itself and in multi-word names. ---
**Author:** ![grama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@grama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grama)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/72 "2012-07-26T16:15:34Z")
I have a question for people from other spanish speaking countries. Is Jesus actually that common? I’ve only met one Jesus in my life (although plenty of women called Maria Jesus) and he is from a very hardcore catholic family (mass in latin and all that). ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/73 "2012-07-26T16:39:14Z")
> [@grama](#): > > I have a question for people from other spanish speaking countries. Is Jesus actually that common? I’ve only met one Jesus in my life (although plenty of women called Maria Jesus) and he is from a very hardcore catholic family (mass in latin and all that). It’s common enough among latin americans here in the US ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/74 "2012-07-26T18:24:21Z")
Not very common in Argentina, though I remember during the worst part of the hyperinflation crisis in '88, '89 we briefly had a minister of economy (hard to translate that position, the US and Britain don’t seem to have an equivalent government post), named Jesús Rodriguez, resulting in the obvious jokes in the newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/75 "2012-07-26T18:33:52Z")
In Spain it’s become less common as we moved away from traditional names, but it’s still quite normal. Depending on the area you’re more likely to find other versions of the name: in Catalonia you’ll meet a lot more guys called Manel than Jesús, in Madrid there are a ton of Manueles (usually called Manolo) and you get the occasional person who names her child Joshua and never misses an occasion to give anybody who asks “what’s his name?” an explanation on the origins of the name; the other frequent(ish) reason for a Joshua is conversion of a Jesús or Manuel to Islam. There’s Salvador called Salva (very common in Valencia), there’s all those girls named Leyre (usually by parents who don’t realize that’s Salvadora de Leyre and not María de Leyre, as the patron of the Monastery of Leyre is Our Saviour and not Our Lady like for every other monastery in Navarre), there’s many people who are surprised to be told that their Emma is a Manuela. I’ve surprised people by pointing out that the “pretty Italian name with absolutely no relationship to any Catholic saint” they had picked actually happens to be the name of a very popular saint, so running into others who have no idea who’s the patron of a monastery isn’t exactly a shock (the Italian name in question - Chiara; no, caro, [no relationship to no saint](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04004a.htm)). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/76 "2012-07-26T18:34:35Z")
It’s probably more common in Spanish than in other languages, but really, Jesús in Puerto Rico is a common uncommon name. And somehow, from the people I know of other countries, that is very much the case. It is a common uncommon name, but since it is probably more common in Spanish than in other languages, people are more likely to identify it and notice it (selection bias). ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/77 "2012-07-26T19:12:28Z")
When I was younger I knew more women called (or refered to as) Jesús than men. One of Peru’s most famous female singers was Jesùs Vásquez. “Chucha” is Peruvian slang for vagina so please, don’t call your girlfirend like that when you come here. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/78 "2012-07-26T19:18:30Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > “Chucha” is Peruvian slang for vagina so please, don’t call your girlfirend like that when you come here. Same here 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/79 "2012-07-26T19:33:03Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > When I was younger I knew more women called (or refered to as) Jesús than men. > One of Peru’s most famous female singers was Jesùs Vásquez. > > “Chucha” is Peruvian slang for vagina so please, don’t call your girlfirend like that when you come here. Or Concha if her name happens to be Concepción, from what I hear… 🙂 ---
**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 26, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/80 "2012-07-26T19:44:57Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Or Concha if her name happens to be Concepción, from what I hear… 🙂 Chucha means the same in Panama as in Peru, but (usually) means body odor in Colombia (the source of some hilarity when Colombians inadvertently use it here). On the other hand, Concha is pretty much OK in Panama, usually just meaning a seashell. _Chuleta!_ is a common euphemistic exclamation in Panama, like _Ajo!_ for “carajo” and _Miercoles!_ for “mierda.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980.md?page=5)