Jesus
- Pronunciation
- [Je-sus]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Named For Jesus
- Origin
- Spanish
About the Name Jesus
Jesus descends through Late Latin Iesus from the Greek Iēsous, ultimately from the Hebrew Yeshua — a contracted form of Yehoshua (Joshua) meaning "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation." Etymologically, then, Jesus and Joshua are the same name, distinguished only by which language and which figure the name refers to. (See separate entry on Joshua.)
In Spanish-speaking Christian-Catholic communities, Jesús (with accent) has been used continuously as a personal name for centuries, in tribute to Jesus Christ — the central figure of Christianity. In contrast to most Christian-influenced naming traditions (where naming a child Jesus would be considered too literally appropriating the name of the Savior), Spanish-speaking Catholic culture has embraced the name as an honorific naming-tribute, similar to the use of María (Mary) for girls.
The name has been continuously among the top boys' names in Spanish-speaking American communities for over a century. Notable bearers include Mexican Revolutionary General Jesús Carranza, contemporary Argentine soccer player Jesús Cota, and Spanish painter Jesús Aparicio. Jesus held a US top-100 boys' rank from 1985 through 2008, driven entirely by Spanish-language naming influence. The name has receded slightly since but remains in steady use within Spanish-speaking American communities. The name's appeal is its layered religious-cultural register — direct connection to Christian tradition's most important figure, anchored Spanish-Catholic naming heritage, two short syllables, and the inherent positive religious register. Common Spanish nicknames Jesús itself, Jesusito, Chuy (the affectionate Mexican-American form, derived from the medieval Spanish nickname pattern), and the rare Yeshua (the Hebrew original) each carry distinct registers. International forms include Jesus (English/Latin), Iesus (the older Latin), Yeshua (Hebrew), and the related Joshua (English form, sharing the same Hebrew root).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Jesus
US Popularity History (1990–2025)
Annual US births named Jesus by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2004 with 6,471 boys named Jesus (boy rank #70 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #173 for boys (2,078 US births). That's 103 places below its 2004 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Jesus Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Jesus the strongest states are Arizona, Texas, California.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona | #32 | 1,593 |
| 2 | Texas | #61 | 5,819 |
| 3 | California | #73 | 5,574 |
| 4 | New Mexico | #81 | 234 |
| 5 | Nevada | #116 | 281 |
| 6 | Colorado | #137 | 463 |
| 7 | Illinois | #154 | 828 |
| 8 | Washington | #166 | 473 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | #176 | 269 |
| 10 | Oregon | #185 | 222 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | #604 | 126 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | #510 | 188 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | #491 | 80 |
| 4 | Virginia | #466 | 152 |
| 5 | Missouri | #456 | 122 |
| 6 | Michigan | #441 | 188 |
| 7 | Louisiana | #431 | 114 |
| 8 | Kentucky | #407 | 80 |
| 9 | Maryland | #379 | 132 |
| 10 | Connecticut | #369 | 57 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Jesus in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Looking for names like Jesus?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Jesus to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Jesus against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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