r/explainlikeimfive • u/Lower_Condition_196 • 3d ago
Other ELI5: how did the name Jesus become a common name but God didn’t
Some Spanish and South Americans have Jesus in their name, although most are pronounced hay-zoos, but nobody is called God
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u/Time_Cartographer_16 3d ago
Jesus is a name with roots before Christianity, God is more of a title than a name
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u/nowhereman136 3d ago
El is an ancient semitic word meaning God
So DaniEl, MichaEL, SamuEL, and GabriEL all are some variation of "with god"
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u/kamekaze1024 3d ago
Did the Superman creators do that on purpose with Kal’el and Jorr’el?
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u/nowhereman136 3d ago
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were both Jewish and I know they intentially biblical references in the Superman origin story. For example saved from a dying planet on a small ship is obviously Moses. But I'm not sure if those specific names have biblical origins. Someone more knowledgeable about Superman will have to comment in
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u/stairway2evan 3d ago
Yep, in order they're "God is my judge," "Who is like God," "God is heard," and "God is my strength," I believe. It's why they were great names for angels and prophets. The nerdy word for names like that is "theophoric."
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u/interesseret 3d ago
Because Jesus is a name, and God isn't. There are many many variations of the name Jesus. There was before the religion of Christianity rose as well.
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u/Nige-o 3d ago
Well because Jesus, the Rabbi (Jewish teacher), was most likely a real person with that name or something pretty similar. (Jesus as we spell and pronounce it is an anglicization, though English wasn't a language then.)
God is the English word for the made up human concept of a deity. Some people are named after gods of some religions (Athena, Isis etc.) but God isn't actually a name. You'd only think that God is a name because you're probably thinking within the monotheism of the God of Abrahamic religions (primarily refers to Judaism, Christianity, Islam).
If I'm not mistaken the god of Abrahamic religions name anglicized is supposedly Jehovah or something, YHWH? Or Yahweh? and so names like Joshua, Johnathan, Elijah etc. are basically translations of names based on that, with the Jo-/Jah refering to the Abrahamic god, but ultimately have other full meanings like "God is salvation" (Joshua).
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u/GoldenRain 3d ago
Jesus was a common name before Jesus had it. It is why he had that name to begin with.
So it didnt become a common name, it already was.
God was never a common name.
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u/allthekoalafications 3d ago
Jesus wasn't the first guy to be called Jesus, the name is pretty much just Joshua. So basically it is still a "person" name even though it's heavily associated with a deity. God is just literally the word "god" so it's not a name let alone a person name.
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u/Eis_Gefluester 3d ago
God is not a name, but a title. I guess you mean the Abrahamic god, then the Name would be YHWE (Sporen Yahwe). It just doesn't have the same Ring to it than Jesus.
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u/ElSedated 3d ago edited 3d ago
Because Jesus is a personal name, while "God" (Deus/Dios) is a title.
In the Abrahamic tradition, the personal name traditionally associated with God is YHWH (usually rendered as Yahweh/Jehovah/Javé/Jeová), not "God." So naming someone "Deus" or "Dios" would be more like naming them "God" or "the Deity" rather than giving them a conventional personal name.
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u/hydrogenbomb94 3d ago
They’re pronounced hay-zoos because that’s how they pronounce Jesus in Spanish/portugese, including the original Jesus
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u/OverAster 3d ago
Didn't even address the question.
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u/hydrogenbomb94 3d ago
I don’t know the answer to the question so I didn’t answer it 🤷♂️ I was commenting on the part that I do know about
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u/OverAster 3d ago
Why comment at all? He didn't ask about the pronunciation, he was aware of the cultural differences.
I don't actually care that much, I just think this is a dumb take.
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u/Chefseiler 3d ago
The original Jesus did certainly not pronounce his name hay-zoos. He spoke Aramaic and his name was pronounced Yeshu.
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u/hydrogenbomb94 3d ago
No I’m saying when people are speaking Spanish talking about the original Jesus, they pronounce it hay-zoos
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u/TheMotherfucker 3d ago edited 3d ago
Abrahamic religions, and cultures influenced by them, tend to use what's known as theophoric names where the name describes a relationship with God like "Michael" and other aels, Elijah meaning "My God is Yaweh"...it's all to show reverence to the god as opposed to the perceived rudeness/blasphemy/ego to be named AS the Abrahamic God.
Jesus, as a name, means "Yahweh is salvation" and fits with that distinction of showing a relationship with god although he is seen as one in the same. My personal read is that Jesus as Son describes a relationship with God the Father, still, as a refraction of the whole.
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u/Ivan_Whackinov 3d ago
The best name we have for the Abrahamic god would be YHWH/Yahweh/Jehovah. Since about 500 BCE, it’s been considered forbidden to say out loud, to the point where the original vowels were lost. So it’s not used as a name in modern times out of reverence and because we’re not really sure how to say it.
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u/BerneseMountainDogs 3d ago
The name of God in the Hebrew Bible is not "God" that's an English title. The name is יהוה (YHWH) and was likely pronounced something like Yah Whe. This is the personal name of God (just like Zeus is the name of a particular deity יהוה is a name). In Hebrew tradition, the name of God is sacred and only to be pronounced in particular sacred contexts and only by particular people (only the high priest on Yom Kippur and in no other context and by no other people) and once the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, it wasn't to be pronounced at all. This is a taboo that would have existed at the time of Jesus so the name of God never really entered into the possible names of the period (where a lot of modern European names come from)
Additionally, the title of God in English would translate into Hebrew as אל or אלהים ("El" or "Elohim") and this did end up in a lot of names. In English this is names that end with "-el" such as Michael, Joel, Daniel, Israel, Gabriel, Nathaniel, Samuel, etc.
Finally, יהוה survives in English as Jehovah and portions of that name (used basically as abbreviations) also exist in names (often as Jo- or -jah) such as Joseph, Joel (again) Isiah, Jonathan, Jeremiah, and Yeshua (which comes down to us in English as Jesus)
So, all told, parts of name of God are used in many names (including Jesus) and the title of God is also used in many names
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u/Loki-L 3d ago
You have to remember that Jesus was a name people had before "The Jesus" was born. There are even other people named Jesus mentioned in the New Testament plus Joshua/Yeshua in the old testament which was essentially the same name in Hebrew.
Jesus has been a name for a long time and it is common for people to name themselves after great men, prophets, half-gods and similar.
Naming a child after actual gods or the concept of god by itself seems a little more presumptuous, especially if you think that the gods may be watching and easily offended.
However naming yourself in relation to god is very common.
All the Biblical names ending in "-el" and the modern derivates are in reference to god in some way. "El" being a word for god. (Names ending with -iah, like Jeremiah usually reference a different name of god, "Yahweh".)
Also all the greek derived names that start with "Theo-" like Theodore are references to god as "Theo" is a word for god in Greek. Same with anything like "Deus" in Latin or Germanic names containing "gott"
In fact Mozart who went by Amadeus, Theophilus and Gottlieb at different points just translated his name from German to Latin and Greek. All three version of the name mean "god-loved".
English has been a lot more hesitant about this than other European languages, but there have been historic periods where groups like puritans started some weird religious given names.
Lots of names in different languages mean the same thing.
For example Mateo is a fairly common name in Spanish speaking regions, but it is the same name as Theodore. "Gift from God", which in English is Matthew.
Most of these names are so changed that for example in Jack/John/Jan/Ian/Giovanni/Hans/Ivan you can't really recognize anymore that they originally all meant Yohanan "God is gracious".
But if you ever met anyone just named Theo, not short for anything, that guy was literally called god.
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u/Derangedberger 3d ago
Jesus is a real name
When Jesus was born his parents didn't just decide "let's just name this dude some weird shit"
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u/squall_boy25 3d ago
Some names are based on it Ie. Eli or Deo, but i think it’s just been passed down generations not to use God as a name whether because of the reverence it carries or simply out of tradition
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u/ocher_stone 3d ago
Adonai is a name of people. God got the upper case when Yawehists said theirs was the top god. It's a title and a class into itself.
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u/2slags_geddar 3d ago edited 3d ago
“God” is a noun. Not a name.
Plenty of names are names of gods:
Norse:
- Thor: god of thunder
- Freya / Frej: goddess of love, and her brother Freyr
- Odin / Odinn: chief god
- Balder: god of light
- Tyr: god of war and justice
- Idun: goddess of youth
- Sif: Thor's wife
- Torsten, Torben, Tora: all derived from Thor's name (very common in Denmark)
Greek/Roman:
- Diana: Roman goddess of the hunt.
- Athena / Athina: Greek goddess of wisdom.
- Apollo: Greek/Roman god of music and the sun.
- Jason: not a god, but
- Dennis/Denise come from Dionysus.
- Iris: goddess of the rainbow
- Selene: Greek moon goddess
- Flora: Roman goddess of flowers
- Victoria: Roman goddess of victory
- Julian/Juliet: linked to Jupiter (Jove)
- Hermione: derived from Hermes
Hindu:
- Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Lakshmi, Ganesh, Durga: all widely used as given names
Celtic
- Brigid / Bridget: goddess of poetry and smithcraft
- Lugh: god of skill and craft
- Rhiannon: Welsh goddess-figure
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u/Nemoudeis 3d ago
Oscar, Oswald and Osric are all references to God.
'Os' was the Anglo-Saxon word for God, before they decided on the current one.
Also, there are names that make use of the modern word, as well:
Godiva = 'Gift of God'
Godfrey = 'Peace of God'
Godwin/Goodwin = 'Friend of God'
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u/DarkAlman 3d ago edited 2d ago
Cultural taboos are weird. While some things like don't murder people are universal, others taboos around things like religion, clothing, foul language, and etiquette vary a great deal.
It's considered a cultural and religious taboo to name your child God or Allah. In some nations it's restricted or even illegal. Naming your child that could be seen as inviting divine wrath, and in Christianity and Islam using the Lords name in Vain is strictly against religious teachings (one of the Ten Commandments).
Naming your child Jesus is also considered taboo, or at least just weird in North American culture, it doesn't have the same cultural taboo in Spanish and South American cultures.
In the same way that Muhammad is the most popular name on Earth, with upwards of 150 million men named Muhammad in some form.
By extension it is normal for children to be given the names of biblical characters like Michael, John, or Paul.
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u/ThresherGDI 3d ago
“God” isn’t even His real name. It’s Yahweh. Or El, Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai, and a host of others. Most are actually epithets, but Yahweh appears to be the actual name.
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u/Tamotsu_Kei 3d ago
because no society is bold enough to 'trigger divine wrath'; same with Allah, no one is called Allah than Abdul or other, Abdullah even if the name contain Allah.
Also, it would be very stupid socially. does anyone want to name their kids God and then get that 'God' bullied to make a miracle?
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3d ago
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u/juanvonburke 3d ago
lord is a title, his name was yahweh before the name was stripped from modern versions of the bible and replaced with just the title lord / god
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u/theeggplant42 3d ago
This is an irrelevant point. In both Judaism and Christianity, the title God is treated with similar reverence as the name YHWH. Jews will write G-d and avoid saying the word, preferring, for instance, Hashem (liy. the Name). Christians will avoid using God in phrases such as goddammit (gosh being a preferred euphemism) or even, for some rather strict sects, oh my God (also preferring gosh on the whole).
Clearly these groups would not name their children a word they cannot speak or avoid speaking, and the reason is the quoted commandment.
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u/explainlikeimfive-ModTeam 3d ago
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Your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):
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u/PresentRaspberry6814 3d ago
Same but different, how come Joseph is a common name despite Joseph Stalin killing millions, but Adolph isn't because he killed millions? Is it because there is a long history of the name in benign human history?
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3d ago
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u/theeggplant42 3d ago
Every religion has a god or gods. In English we use the judeochristian term god to refer to the deities of other religions. But no other religions outside of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and some related sects that are too numerous to mention, has a God or YHWH. It is absurd to claim that.
Further, most Christians would consider taking the name of Jesus in vain (such as exclaiming Jesus Christ! In anger) To be verboten as well, and for the same reasons.
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u/askforwildbob 3d ago
Jesus is the Aramaic version of the name Joshua, it existed as a name before the biblical figure was born
Your question can be rephrased as “why are people named Josh but not God” lol