# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**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, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/81 "2012-07-26T21:07:16Z")
> [@](#): > > and _Miercoles!_ for “mierda.” same here, where any day of the week can be a “dia de Miercoles”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/82 "2012-07-26T21:43:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I don’t know how common “Isa” is a name in Arabic speaking countries among Arabic Christians. I’d bet zero. That’s because Islamic and Christian sources have different names for Jesus in Arabic! Jesus in the Qur’ān is called عيسى بن مريم ‘Īsá ibn Maryam. In the Arabic translation of the Bible, though, he’s يسوع Yasū‘. I’ve never heard of anybody getting named Yasū‘. For one thing, Greeks would think you’re saying hi. It’s also a different name from Joshua in Arabic, which is يوشع Yūsha‘. ---
**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 27, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/83 "2012-07-27T05:36:26Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Or Concha if her name happens to be Concepción, from what I hear… 🙂 Yeah, go for Concho better. At least _polla_ is only “female chicken” or “horse bet” ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/84 "2012-08-21T19:53:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He also wasn’t Hispanic, so far as I can tell. GG Allin wasn’t Hispanic, but he got his name under some exceptional circumstances – his father believed his son was going to be the next messiah. It is still very unusual for an Anglo-American to be named Jesus. Very, very unusual. I do know that in most parts of medieval Europe, during the early medieval period parents were reluctant to name their children after Mary or the holiest saints. That taboo started breaking down sometime about the 12th century. Among the children of the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine, we find a Marie (by her marriage to the king of France) and a John (by her marriage to the king of England), both uncommon names beforehand. The only predominantly Christian cultures to use Jesus as a given name on a regular basis seem to be Hispanic and possibly Lusophone cultures. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/85 "2012-08-21T20:10:18Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > Lusophone New word for me! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/86 "2012-08-21T20:58:40Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s not just English speakers. It’s not common outside Spanish speaking countries. Not as uncommon as you might think, though; it used to be a recognized practice in France to name boys “Jesus” or some name with “Jesus” in it. For instance, [Jesus Marie Dugue](http://www.ellisisland.org/search/ship_passengers.asp?letter=g&half=1&sname=George*Washington&year=1913&sdate=06/09/1913&port=Cherbourg,*France&page=1) immigrated from France via Ellis Island in 1913. An early 20th-century “Frenchie” Vermonter, [Jesus Marie Charland](http://records.ancestry.com/Jesus_Marie_Charland_records.ashx?pid=38826224), was the son of the magnificently named Telesphore Gaudiose Charland. They don’t make 'em like **that** anymore! 🙂 Found a couple Marie-Jesus examples too, more 19th-c. French immigrants. And the practice still hasn’t totally died out; you can find a [Jesus Marie Fourviere](http://accountantservices.france121.com/cgi-bin/onlineshop.pl?val=gp&mcat=&scat=&sscat=&t=s&srch=3&cst=&bs=&ps=31&pe=&af=&tst=&ref=282&srchpcode=Lyon%20-%20Bron%20Airport%20-%20LYN&srchmiles=50&oval=radius) in Lyon or the [horoscope of Jean-Jesus Chavarrias born in 1978](http://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Jean-Jesus_Chavarrias), for instance. (Some of these examples might be immigrants from ex-French colonies in Africa, where the use of, say, “Jesus-Marie” seems more persistent than in France proper.) > [@JKellyMap](#): > > 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. Whoa, watch that analogy there. “Muhammad” is revered by Muslims as the Prophet, but he most emphatically was never considered to be God (medieval Western misapprehensions about “Mohammedan idolaters” aside), so no cultural taboo about giving humans the name of God would apply in this case. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/87 "2012-08-22T00:05:35Z")
Oh BTW, how do we know that Jesus was Puerto Rican? His name was “Jesus”. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980/88 "2012-08-22T00:14:29Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > 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. 🙂 Well, you might find a Julius. Also, at least historically, many Spanish speakers had middle or second names that was of the opposite gender. The point was giving the person a second, opposite sex patron saint, iirc. So you could have Jose Maria Rodriguez (Joseph Mary Rodriguez) and his sister Maria Jose Rodriguez. I believe this practice is or was common among francophones - not sure about lusophones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jesus-a-common-name-in-spanish-speaking-countries-but-nowhwere-else/628980.md?page=4)