You Wouldn't Name Him That.

Listening to a piece on CBC Radio One's The Current about Michael Baigent's new book The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Coverup in History got me thinking about the name Jesus itself. Specifically I found myself wondering why its a common male name amongst Spanish speaking peoples, but not English speakers. An English speaking person naming their son Jesus would likely not go over well with most other English speakers whether they are religious or not. Yet other Biblical names don't have that problem. Given some of the odd names people in English North America give their kids these days its kind of surprising we don't seem to have them choosing Jesus.