Was Jesus a common name before Jesus Christ was born?

Answer 1

Yes, it's a derivation of Joshua, which means "Yehovah is Salvation." Therefore his parents were inspired to call their son Jesus for its meaning specifically, but we can assume they were familiar with the name.
Jason and Jesse probably both have this root too.

Answer 2

Was Jesus A Common Name

Answer 3

Yes, as a few other people have pointed out, it was.

Jesus is actually an English corruption of the Latin, Iesus (Latin did not have a J).

Iesus, comes from the Greek Iesous (Greek was the language of the New Testament).

Iesous itself is a Greek transliteration of Aramaic, Yeshua (Jesus's mother tongue was Aramaic).

The aramaic form of the name is a derivation of the old Hebrew name Joshua.

So, as other's havfe said - Jesus is just a variation on the common name Joshua, and Jesus' name in his own language would have been Yeshua - a very common name in the Roman province of Judaea at the time.

Christ, by the way, is from Greek Christos, meaning anointed. Christos is the nearest Greek word for translating the Hebrew word Maashia (which became the English word Messiah).

Answer 4

Jesus's Hebrew name is actually Yeshua, which is equivilent to Joshua. And yes, there are other Joshuas in the Bible. The English translation of Yeshua has somehow become Jesus, for Christ.

FYI, In South India, they call Jesus Yesu or Yesuman.

Answer 5

No .There was no name of Jesus.If you read The bible you will see saints from East visited at the time of birth of the holy child.They gave their name to child.These were Indian saints called Joshuas,Joshuas or Joshis.Joshis are even now in India.Jesus is the English spelling of Joshuas.Similar names are found in Latin,Greek and Sanskrit.The Bible might have been first written in Latin or some other Eastern Language and then translated into English.Jesus cannot be original name of the saviour/son of God..Jesus is the westernised name of the saviour

Answer 6

This title of Christ is derived from the Hebrew Jeshua or Joshua, The name Jesus was specifically chosen by the Holy Ghost for the Christ Child Matthew Ch1v21 "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."

Answer 7

Eesa Latinised to "Jesus"

Actually, his proper name was Eesa (Arabic), or Esau (Hebrew); classical Yeheshua, which the Christian nations of the West latinised as Jesus. Neither the "J" nor the second "s" in the name Jesus is to be found in the original tongue - they are not found in the Semitic languages.

The word is very simply "E S A U" a very common Jewish name, used more than sixty times in the very first booklet alone of the Bible, in the part called "Genesis". There was at least one "Jesus" sitting on the "bench" at the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Josephus the Jewish historian mentions some twenty five Jesus' in his "Book of Antiquities". The New Testament speaks of "Bar-Jesus" a magician and a sorcerer, a false prophet (Acts 13:6); and also "Jesus-Justus" a Christian missionary, a contemporary of Paul (Colossians 4:11). These are distinct from Jesus the son of Mary. Transforming "Esau" to (J)esu(s) - Jesus - makes it unique. This unique (?) name has gone out of currency among the Jews and the Christians from the 2nd century after Christ. Among the Jews, because it came to be a name of ill - repute, the name of one who blasphemed in Jewry; and among the Christians because it came to be the proper name of their God. The Muslim will not hesitate to name his son Eesa because it is an honored name, the name of a righteous servant of the Lord.

Answer 8

God told Mary to name her son Jesus. I don't think he picked it out of a baby book ;)

To add on the whole name thing, the name "christ" wasn't actually added to his name until like 300 years after his death. Christ is not a last name, it is a title, meaning "Messiah, or savior of the world".

I add that cuz I didn't know that til after I became a christian... and I know a lot of christians who didn't know that lol.

Answer 9

Jesus was, and still is a common name in Spanish speaking countries. It's pronounce her-zeus.

Answer 10

1) Where have all these "he was a prohphet" comments come from??

2) Jesus means saviour, so probably not. It may be more common now (for some reason) but I doubt it was then.