Dumb questions: "Jesus" as a first name?

[Capetan Mihali]

How many cultures use a variant of Jesus as a male first name?  Is it only used in the Spanish-speaking world?  Is there an equivalent in other European cultures (in French, German, Italian, etc)?  Is it as common in Spain as it is in Latin America?

I was asked by two friends to weigh in on a dispute on this topic, and realized I have no clue.  The only real life experience I have is meeting Latin American men named Jesús.  The only information I could find on the internet was mainly back-and-forth bashing and defense of Mexican Americans, so not really to the point.   

Any arm-chair theories on why it took root in some cultures and not others?

[AnchorClanker]

How many cultures use a variant of Jesus as a male first name?  Is it only used in the Spanish-speaking world?  Is there an equivalent in other European cultures (in French, German, Italian, etc)?  Is it as common in Spain as it is in Latin America?

I was asked by two friends to weigh in on a dispute on this topic, and realized I have no clue.  The only real life experience I have is meeting Latin American men named Jesús.  The only information I could find on the internet was mainly back-and-forth bashing and defense of Mexican Americans, so not really to the point.   

Any arm-chair theories on why it took root in some cultures and not others?

It's all pretty amusing as he was JOSHUA (Yeshua)

Jesus is a bad translation that stuck.

[Valmy]

It's all pretty amusing as he was JOSHUA (Yeshua)

Jesus is a bad translation that stuck.

All those fundies are sure going to be disappointed when they end up in Hell for believing in the wrong guy.

[ulmont]

The only information I could find on the internet was mainly back-and-forth bashing and defense of Mexican Americans, so not really to the point.   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_(name)

[Capetan Mihali]

The only information I could find on the internet was mainly back-and-forth bashing and defense of Mexican Americans, so not really to the point.   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_(name)

Other than a nice short list of other famous people named Jesus, it's pretty irrelevant to the question.   

[AnchorClanker]

It's all pretty amusing as he was JOSHUA (Yeshua)

Jesus is a bad translation that stuck.

All those fundies are sure going to be disappointed when they end up in Hell for believing in the wrong guy.

Yeah, they follow Paul instead of Christ.  Good times.

[The Brain]

What about Jesus as a last name?

[ulmont]

Other than a nice short list of other famous people named Jesus, it's pretty irrelevant to the question.   

It notes that the name is primarily restricted to the Spanish-speaking world.  The number of examples in Spain proper show that the name is not restricted to Latin America.  That's two of your first four questions answered...

See also:

http://www.babynamewizard.com/namipedia/boy/jesus
http://www.babynamer.com/jesus

Again...Spanish-speaking world, including Spain, not much outside that (possibly Portugal and Portuguese-areas).

[The Brain]

In Sweden we have people called Thor (Tor). Odin (Oden) and Frey (Frej) are extremely rare though. Freya (Freja) is not unheard of.

[The Larch]

I can confirm that it is, either alone or combined with other first names, a popular name in Spain.

[Josquius]

It's all pretty amusing as he was JOSHUA (Yeshua)

Jesus is a bad translation that stuck.

If true that is a AWFUL translation. Utterly different...

[garbon]

It's all pretty amusing as he was JOSHUA (Yeshua)

Jesus is a bad translation that stuck.

If true that is a AWFUL translation. Utterly different...

Awful?

wiki:

"Jesus" (IPA: /ˈdʒizʊs/) is a transliteration, occurring in a number of languages and based on the Latin Iesus, of the Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), itself a Hellenisation of the Hebrew יהושע (Yehoshua) or Hebrew-Aramaic ישוע (Yeshua ), (Joshua), meaning "the Lord rescues" or "the Lord delivers."

Yeshua, spelled יֵשׁוּעַ (Yēšûă') or ישוע in Hebrew was a common name among Jews of the Second Temple Period, and is believed by some scholars and religious groups to be the Hebrew or Aramaic name for Jesus.

[The Brain]

Would Christianity have taken off if Jesus had been called Warren?

[clandestino]

Again...Spanish-speaking world, including Spain, not much outside that (possibly Portugal and Portuguese-areas).

I can't remember anyone (presently or in the past) using Jesus as a first name. I'm pretty sure someone was called by that name, but maybe it isn't as common as in Spanish speaking areas.

There was a former chairman of the Communist Party called Bento de Jesus Caraça, but in that case it's a kind of middle/last name.

In Brazil, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of Jesus, but their naming attributes are pretty lame, and very different from ours.

[Josquius]

It's all pretty amusing as he was JOSHUA (Yeshua)

Jesus is a bad translation that stuck.

If true that is a AWFUL translation. Utterly different...

Awful?

wiki:

"Jesus" (IPA: /ˈdʒizʊs/) is a transliteration, occurring in a number of languages and based on the Latin Iesus, of the Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), itself a Hellenisation of the Hebrew יהושע (Yehoshua) or Hebrew-Aramaic ישוע (Yeshua ), (Joshua), meaning "the Lord rescues" or "the Lord delivers."

Yeshua, spelled יֵשׁוּעַ (Yēšûă') or ישוע in Hebrew was a common name among Jews of the Second Temple Period, and is believed by some scholars and religious groups to be the Hebrew or Aramaic name for Jesus.

I don't know what you're saying here.
Yeshua and Jesus sound utterly different.