What's in a name?

[.Shane.]

In this case, the name I'm curious about is "Jesus Christ". We have a more than a few people w/ decent religious/theological training here, so I thought I'd ask...

Is there any significance or meaning to the names "Jesus" or "Christ" at the time he was born? Meaning, could he have been name "Bob Clark" or "Ahmed Hussein" or whatever?

I always thought that "Christ" had a specific meaning or reason for being his name but that "Jesus" was just a random name.

At any rate, I'd appreciate any help with this.

Note:
*Any derisive or non-constructive posts will be reported.
*I don't care what you're opinion of JC is or if you're an atheist or a Catholic or whatever, so don't go down that road of discussion.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Well, "Christ" is a Greek-derived title given long after he was born, not a surname.

 

[Kyriakos]

Christ is a greek word and means he who has been named as a religious or stately figure.
Not sure about Jesus, which seems like either a hebrew word, or a greek name created to stand for a hebrew name.

 

[holy king]

if his name was yeshua, why didnt they translate it to josephus as usual, btw?

 

[Bill3000]

"Jesus" comes from Latin Iesus, which comes from Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), which is a Hellenization of Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (Yēšûă&#8216 or Hebrew-Aramaic יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yĕhōšuă‘, Joshua), meaning "Yahweh delivers (or rescues)".

"Christ" is a title derived from the Greek Χριστός (Christós), meaning the "Anointed One", a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Mašíaḥ - Messiah).

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Would Mary and Joseph's everyday language be Aramaic? Or was it Hebrew?

The problem is that there were so many languages and dialects in common use at the time, the "true" name depends on the ethnicity of the person you asked (supposing you asked back then).

So what was the name "Jesus" in Aramaic and Hebrew? Is "Jesus" itself a Latinized form of the name?

Since I have no idea, I'm just tossing out questions...

 

[warpus]

Were they calling him "the annointed one / Christ" as soon as he was born, or did that come about later when the religion was born (with Paul, etc.) ?

 

[.Shane.]

So, while he was alive he was probably not called "Jesus Christ". "Christ" is (for lack of a better term) a title that was attached to him later.

It would seem that Jesus is, more or less, the name his parents randomly gave him? Akin to a parent in modern US naming their kid "Bob" or "Kyle"?

 

[sophie]

So, while he was alive he was probably not called "Jesus Christ". "Christ" is (for lack of a better term) a title that was attached to him later.

It would seem that Jesus is, more or less, the name his parents randomly gave him? Akin to a parent in modern US naming their kid "Bob" or "Kyle"?

That's about how I understood it. If you read The Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus is asked many times if he is "The Christ"

What I find to be an interesting story is that in the early days of Christianity, the Christian symbol was not the cross, but the Chi Rho, for the first two greek letters of Christ, and is (if the story of Constantine is to be believed) the symbol Constantine would have allegedly "seen in the sky"

 

[warpus]

Why is it that only Spanish-speaking peeps name their kids Jesus these days, anyway?

 

[Cutlass]

Why is it that only Spanish-speaking peeps name their kids Jesus these days, anyway?

Actually, they don't really. Or maybe they do, I'm not sure how they translate. But it's pronounced hey-zeus.

 

[warpus]

Actually, they don't really. Or maybe they do, I'm not sure how they translate. But it's pronounced hey-zeus.

It's pronounced like that cause J in spanish is a Hhh sound

 

[Cutlass]

It's pronounced like that cause J in spanish is a Hhh sound

Sure. But do Spanish speaking people equate it with Christ?

 

[warpus]

Sure. But do Spanish speaking people equate it with Christ?

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesús_de_Nazaret

apparently

 

[Cutlass]

Interesting. Well Angel is a fairly common name for Hispanic men as well.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Jesus is an Anglicized form of a Latinized for of a Hellenized form of a name that might have been in Greek or Hebrew. he was probably called Yeshua in his day, but his name may have actually been Yehoshua. Yeshua could be either the Aramaic form of the name or a less formal Hebrew form.


When not referring to Christ, most English translations render his name Joshua. (The Vulgate is consistent in using Iesus for other Joshuas too, like the Son of Nun.) That is a pretty common name in the US, and is really no different than a hispanic person having the name Jesus. (Fun fact, the letter J, as well as the letter X, were not always pronounced like an H in Spanish. In some regions they retain an older, SH pronunciation. This explains why a kind of alcohol from Juarez is called Sherry. Also, the proper pronunciation for Mexico is Meshico. Those from former Aztec (Mexica/Meshica) lands still pronounce it like that, btu those form near the US border typically don't know the right way to pronoucne the name of their home country.)


Joshua/Yeshua/Yehosua was a very common name in Jesus's time. It translates to "YHWH saves" or YHWH is Salvation." I recall from reading something by Justin Martyr that after changing the name of the Son of Nun from Hoshea ("salvation") to Yehoshua god declared that he was carrying His name. this is interpreted as a prophecy that the Messhiah would be named Yehoshua.

If the bible is right, Mary and Joseph didn't just decide to name him Yehosua, but were commanded to by an angel.




Christ is but a translation of the title Messiah. Personally I'd rather call Jesus Christ Yehosua ha Masshiach.

 

[Lillefix]

Why is it that only Spanish-speaking peeps name their kids Jesus these days, anyway?

Interestingly enough, according to this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_names Jesus is the 7th most common name in Mexico, but not in the top then of any other spanish speaking country.

But you white Americans, it's you who really excel in giving your children biblical names. (I'm not calling you American warpus, chillax)

 

[Cutlass]

Interestingly enough, according to this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_names Jesus is the 7th most common name in Mexico, but not in the top then of any other spanish speaking country.

But you white Americans, it's you who really excel in giving your children biblical names. (I'm not calling you American warpus, chillax)

I think 'biblical names' in America are a pretty broad definition. But yeah, there is a lot of it. A couple generations ago it was almost mandatory.

 

[warpus]

What sort of biblical names are you talking about? For some reason the only stuff that comes to mind is Moses and Jeremiah. I've never come across a Moses other than Moses Znaimer, and anyone named Jeremiah is usually a redneck

Do you just mean names like.. Paul, Tom, Peter, etc?

 

[Birdjaguar]

Jacob, Jeremiah, Aaron, Joseph, Andrew, Noah, Elijah, Samuel, Isaac, Luke, Jason, Eli, Adam, Michael, Joshua, Jonathan, Benjamin, Gabriel, Matthew