Why is Muhammad a common Muslim name, but Jesus not a common Christian name?

[Philip]

what about the names: Christopher,Christian, Christine, Chris ?
these are derived from the name of Jesus Christ.

Christopher means Christ-bearer or Christ-carrier. While it refers to Jesus, it is not the same as using his name or title. As a parallel, the name Jesus goes back to YHWH-saves. While the name points back to YHWH, it is not the same as calling oneself YHWH.

 

[FalconHonour]

The name Jesse comes from Jesse the father of David. The names Jesus and Jesse are not directly related.



Jesus's brothers were, traditionally, James, Joseph/Joses, Jude and Simon. You are probably thinking of the apostle John.

No I was thinking of James. I just got confused..

 

[David T]

"If Jesus was Jewish, why the Spanish name?"--old joke

 

[Anarch King of Dipsodes]

Mary/Marie/Maria is common in Europe, especially Latin Europe, but one must remember that Maria is the feminine form of the very common Roman name Marius.

As for "John", it may be seen to allude to the Baptist or the Apostle, but the actual Hebrew pronunciation was "Jokanan". "John" as used in Europe derives from the Germanic "Johann".

"Paul" alludes to the Apostle, but in Spanish is spelled "Pablo", showing obvious derivation from the Roman "Publius".

 

[Neoteros]

Theory: Islam first took off, obviously, among the Arabs. I understand that Mohammad wasn’t an uncommon Arab name in the time before Islam. So if you already know some Mohammads, you got an uncle Mohammad, whatever, it wouldn’t seem too strange to give that name to your kid. Meanwhile, Christianity rose to prominence and power not on the strength of the Jewish population, but with Greek and Latin converts. Some dude in Italy or Anatolia probably has never heard the name Yeshua in any context other than as the son of God, and so may have been more hesitant to use it as a common name.

I've come across some people that argue that "Muhammad", as a name, was not used at all before the Prophet, and that the name itself originated as an epithet originally given to Jesus. Huh.

 

[Sicarius]

I've come across some people that argue that "Muhammad", as a name, was not used at all before the Prophet, and that the name itself originated as an epithet originally given to Jesus. Huh.

I may well be wrong, looking around further it seems like the evidence is ambiguous at best on early use of the name. I’m seeing cites to a 1936 article by an E.J. Jurji on the topic, but can’t locate the article itself.

 

[The_Persian_Cat]

Oh! NameExplain has a good video about this!

 

[JennyB]

Certainly true about Jesus, but Mary?

Mary/Marie/Maria/etc is super common across Europe. I would guess that it’s probably been historically the most common female name (and Joseph probably the most common male name).

Mary was also a common second name for boys in Catholic Ireland. I had an aunt called Vivien Mary and the registrar (so the family story goes) put her down as a boy. Fortunately, my uncle happened to be christened Francis Evelyn.

 

[Tyler96]

England does have Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned Barbon.

 

[Tarabas]

Mary/Marie/Maria is common in Europe, especially Latin Europe, but one must remember that Maria is the feminine form of the very common Roman name Marius.

As for "John", it may be seen to allude to the Baptist or the Apostle, but the actual Hebrew pronunciation was "Jokanan". "John" as used in Europe derives from the Germanic "Johann".

"Paul" alludes to the Apostle, but in Spanish is spelled "Pablo", showing obvious derivation from the Roman "Publius".

I am afraid Maria is not the feminine of Marius. Maria comes from the Hebrew Miryam, while the latin name Marius (whose feminine form, Mária with the accent on the first syllable, exists, although I have never seen it actually used) is related to "mas, maris" , so "male" or possibly to the God Mars. As for "Paul" it derives from "Paulus" meaning "short, small, little" and has nothing to do with "Publius" whose actual meaning is unknown and possibly related with "publicus" ("public/of the people"). Besides, Paulus was a praenomen and Paulus a cognomen.

 

[ennobee]

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the Jesus/Mohammed question is related to another observation: Why are variations of the names Petrus and Paulus, even names derived from minor apostles such as Johannis and Jacobus more common than the name 'Jesus' itself?

I think it has to do with the religio-historical Jesus being the Son of God, and therefore subject to special rules of reverence. Something like in classic Hebrew not being allowed to speak out the name of God and having to use some reverent description like J-H-V-E. So Jesus is as much a title of honor then a name. Some power you should not invoke lightly. Which will probably get you some queer feeling when you have to change 'Little Boy Jesus' diapers. The apostles in contrast were human through and through and thus a name little kids could aspire to become. Becoming Jesus would just be too much of hubris to heal on a little kid, even if only through his name.

So likewise, regardless of how common the name Mohammed was in the Prophet Mohammed's time, the prophet Mohammed was still a prophet, not a God and therefore not some kind of 'He who must not be named'.

 

[Arcavia]

Something like in classic Hebrew not being allowed to speak out the name of God and having to use some reverent description like J-H-V-E.

Heck, youre not even supposed to say the Tetragrammaton; IIRC according to the Rabbis its proper pronunciation has not been known since the time the Babylonian Talmud was compiled. Rather, in prayer when the Tetragrammaton is written it is pronounced "Adonai", "Lord", anf out of prayer you're supposed to say "Hashem", "the name".

 

[Miriamele]

I am afraid Maria is not the feminine of Marius. Maria comes from the Hebrew Miryam, while the latin name Marius (whose feminine form, Mária with the accent on the first syllable, exists, although I have never seen it actually used) is related to "mas, maris" , so "male" or possibly to the God Mars.

It's spelled Mária in Hungarian even though it's supposed to come from Hebrew.

 

[Byzantion]

Forgive me if the answer is obvious, I belong to neither religion, but why is that the case?

The name Siddhartha is also a common name among Bhddists and Hindus

 

[Tresckow]

Ever been to the Bronx?

 

[Tarabas]

It's spelled Mária in Hungarian even though it's supposed to come from Hebrew.

That might have to do with Hungarian grammar, though. My point was just nitpicking on the fact that, although Mario and Maria look similar, are unrelated.

 

[ModusViv]

I was going to make a joke here, like - because it would be weird for parents to be sitting around, chatting over coffee, saying things like "Let me tell you, we had a real challenge when it came to potty training Jesus." Or "We had to ground Jesus for a week for putting a dent in the car ..." And it is amusing to think about, but then I can't answer why Mohammed's followers don't think it's weird or amusing when their kids are named after the prophet. Or why Spanish speakers don't think it's strange.

It does just seem kind of weird in English, though. Maybe it's just a kind of an inexplicable hangup of anglophone westerners. Just a kind of a custom without a real reason, or something lost to the mists of time, or some confluence of many different reasons. The way we can't explain why it's OK to say "A big, red balloon" but not "A red, big balloon".

 

[Miriamele]

That might have to do with Hungarian grammar, though. My point was just nitpicking on the fact that, although Mario and Maria look similar, are unrelated.

Yeah, probably. Medieval sources still write it as Maria. And now Mario is also spelled Márió.

 

[Miguel Lanius]

I never met anyone named Jesus, and I live in Brazil.

Marias and Josés are rather common, tho.

 

[Nivek]

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