What is Jesus' birth name? If there was another name, when and by who's authority was it changed?

Question

Either way, as he was born a Jew, is his name Jewish? Do we have Jewish people sharing his name, including the name Christ?

Answer 1

Jesus' name would have been "Yeshua ben Yowseph," or Jesus, son of Joseph. His name wasn't changed, per se, it was Anglicized, just as all Hebrew names in the Bible are for ease of reading. Personally, I wish they were left intact.

In recognition of His true name, I ALWAYS refer to Him as Yeshua when I'm in prayer. (If you're curious, it's pronounced "Yi-SHU-uh, with a short "i" like the word "it.")

Regarding your last question, I don't know if there are any Jews today named Yeshua (which means Salvation). Probably not, due to the association with Christianity.

The term "Christ" is derived from a Greek word, which is a translation of the Hebrew term "mesiach," or "annointed" (the english translation of this word is Messiah.) While the Bible tells us there have been several men annointed "mesiach," such as King David, the context here is that Jesus is the ultimate Mesiach, or awaited Jewish Messiah.

EDIT: "Meg," and "Sunestauromai," Joshua (Hebrew "Yehowshuwa") is not the same as Yeshua, Jesus' Hebrew name. While it's derived from Yeshua, it's a different name altogether and means "Jehovah is Salvation."

Answer 2

Ancient names had meanings, something which is mostly lost today. Jesus (Iesous from Greek) was a TRANSLATION from his Hebrew name, retaining its MEANING (YHWH is salvation) for the Greek speaking world. Had the name been TRANSLITERATED as some suggest, its meaning would have been unknown to most of the first century world.

Is it better to sound the same and have the world not understand the meaning or sound different but retain the meaning?

The common practice of the day seems to have been to translate names rather than transliterate them, for instance, Peter was also called Cephas, Aramaic for Rocky.

Answer 3

>>Do we have Jewish people sharing his name<<

The modern spelling is Joshua, which I believe is popular with Jews and gentiles alike.

Answer 4

Harold.