Scientists claim Jesus 'wasn't called Jesus' – so what was his actual name?

For most of our lives, we’ve known the Son of God by one name: Jesus. It’s what we’re taught from the beginning — and honestly, when you’re told someone’s name is something, you rarely stop to question it.

But according to historians and scholars, Jesus wasn’t actually called Jesus at all.

Let’s start with some context. Historians believe Jesus was born around 2,030 years ago. Professor Lawrence Mykytiuk of Purdue University told MailOnline that “the narrowest date one can confidently arrive at for Jesus’s birth seems to be the month of March, during the years 6, 5, or 4 BC.”

But here’s the twist: the name “Jesus” didn’t even exist at the time he was alive. In fact, some of the letters we use in his name today wouldn’t have been used in written language until over a thousand years after his death — including the letter “J.”

As the story of Jesus was passed on through centuries, his name evolved as it travelled through different languages: first Aramaic (his native tongue), then Hebrew, followed by Greek, Latin, and eventually English by the 16th century. What we now call “Jesus” is essentially the end result of a long game of linguistic telephone.

So what was his original name?

Scientists claim Jesus didn’t actually go by the name ‘Jesus’ at all. Credit: Shutterstock.

According to Professor Dineke Houtman of the Protestant Theological University in the Netherlands, Jesus’ name was likely Yeshua, or perhaps the shortened Yeshu — both of which were common in that time and region.

“His name would probably have been in Aramaic: Yeshua,” she explained. “It is likely that this is also how he introduced himself. Another possibility is the shorter form Yeshu, which is the form used in later rabbinic literature.”

It tracks. Jesus was a Jewish man from the Middle East, and would have spoken Aramaic — not English. So a name like “Jesus,” with its hard ‘J’ sound, wouldn’t have even existed in his world.

Professor Candida Moss, an expert on early Christianity from the University of Birmingham, agrees. She told MailOnline: “Most scholars agree that his name was Yeshua or possibly Yeshu, which was one of the most common names in first-century Galilee.”

And what about “Christ”? Was that his surname?

Not exactly. Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, meaning “anointed one” — a title, not a last name. If anything, his name would’ve included his hometown: Yeshua of Nazareth, or Yeshu ha-Notzri (Yeshu the Nazarene).

So, while we may know him as Jesus Christ today, it’s more historically accurate to say his name was Yeshua of Nazareth — and the name “Jesus” is just one of many translations that helped shape the version of his story we now know.