Because this is the kind of thing that makes it neccesary to have a term that goes 'In some cultures..." : )

Not everyone sits comfortably with the thought of the most supreme being, the ultimate, having a child. It is contradictory and just absurd. The Bible says Jesus was a prophet. People in his time regarded him as such. We are told that about the time of Christ the name Jesus appears to have been fairly common. In fact one of Paul's companions is also called Jesus according to Colossians 4:11. Muslims revere Jesus as a great prophet and love him dearly enough to name their children after him. If you come across a Muslim named Eessa he is Jesus. He'll be quick to point out though that he's not Al Masseeh (= the Messiah = the Christ)

1) "Jesus / Yeshua / Y'shua / Yahshua Jesus is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Yeshua, spelled variously as Y'shua, Yahshua, Yahoshua or Joshua. In many of our writings we use the commonly known Greek form Jesus so that people will know of whom we are writing; because the name Yeshua is not generally known amongst English-speaking believers. But you will notice that we often use the original Hebrew form Yeshua or Yahshua. This name means 'the Salvation of Yahweh.' In other words 'Yeshua is Yahweh's agent or means of salvation.' He is Jehovah in His role as Saviour. The gospel of Matthew says "you shall call his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) One could also argue at length on pronunciations and spellings of the Saviour's name; but we leave that to others. Each person will need to decide for himself. After all, very few Gentile believers know Hebrew. " "And this brings me to an extremely important question: Is it a sin to use the title LORD or the name JESUS? Some groups impliedly teach that it is. They never use this title or name in their writings. They teach that if you have a Bible which uses words like LORD, Lord or Jesus Christ, then change it; because, they say, the word 'Lord' is a pagan title and 'Jesus' is the name of a Greek god. Even the word 'God', they claim, is the name of a pagan deity. It is therefore a sin (they believe) to call the Most High - LORD God, or the Saviour - Jesus! This message comes across strongly when reading their writings. Others, mostly the Jews, believe that it is sacrilegious to use the sacred name, no matter how it is pronounced. Instead, they advise, we should say LORD, Adonai or Lord God. Are either of these two diametrically opposed viewpoints correct? One claiming that we should never use the titles LORD, Lord, God etc. but the names Yahweh, Yahshua, Yeshua etc. instead; and the other saying that it is sacrilegious to even utter the name of the Almighty, but that we should instead say LORD or Lord God? Who is correct? Did the Holy One of Israel, who inspired the mighty Protestant reformation several centuries ago, on the strength of the Authorised Version, somehow allow His own Name and the name of His Son to be so corrupted or omitted that to speak or write them some 400 years later would amount to sin? I do not think so; but the fact is that many readers of the Sacred Name groups' literature are now writing to the Stewarton Bible School requesting Holy Name Bibles. Doubtless these believers feel that the Scriptures they possess are somewhat inferior, spiritually tainted so to speak, and unfit to study. So they want to dispose of their Bibles and obtain Sacred Name Bibles! " Source and further information: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/SBS777/vital/snames.html 2) "As children the Sisters of Mercy taught us to bow our head whenever we heard the name of Jesus or said His name ourselves. This pious practice has not been promoted by the "Renewed Church of the Modernists." Children are no longer taught to do this and as they grow into adults and have children of their own, they are unaware of it. Jesus' name is known far and wide, but as a word with which to swear profanely. His Name is blasphemed, He is depicted as a homosexual doing unspeakable things to His Own Body, His Mother's perpetual virginity is disdained and so forth. Our culture is strewn with the garbage of sacrilege. If only souls knew the riches of just uttering the Sweet Name of Jesus with reverence and wonder, and the happiness which that Name brings to souls so disposed." Source and further information: http://www.catholictradition.org/Christ/holy-name.htm 3) Without approving or disapproving, I just wanted to show which conceptions some people have about the holiness of God's name. Different cultures, different conceptions. Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrilege http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_god

One point I know I have heard in the past is that in some cultures that were forcibly conquered, like Mexico and South America by the SPanish, some of the newly converted named their children Jesus to appease the SPanish conquerers. This tradition seemed to stick in some regard, but I cannot back my answer with any facts on the matter, just purely a thing I heard.

It is quite simple really many words do not cover the fac that the question was addressed to Christians and it was a Christian opinion that was asked for! Therefore the bible is the authority as far as the answer is concerned!

1) "this reminds me of an old joke: If Jesus was a Jew, why did he have a Mexican name?" http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=118597&page=3 2) "In many cultures, given names are reused, especially to commemorate ancestors or those who are particularly admired, resulting in a limited repertoire of names that sometimes vary by orthography. The most familiar example of this, to Western readers, is the use of Biblical and saints' names in most of the Christian countries (with Ethiopia, in which names were often ideals or abstractions—Haile Selassie, "power of the Trinity"; Haile Miriam, "power of Mary"—as the most conspicuous exception). However, the name Jesus was considered taboo or sacrilegious in some of the Christian world. Similarly, the name Mary, now popular if not ubiquitous among Christians, particularly Roman Catholics, was considered too holy for secular use until about the 12th century. In countries that particularly venerated Mary, this remained the case much longer; in Poland, until the arrival in the 17th century of French queens named Marie." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Given_name 3) You can find an interesting comment thread about this here: "Why is Jesus a common name in Spanish-language cultures, but to my knowledge no other European-language cultures?" http://www.volokh.com/posts/1156282456.shtml 4) "Que escándalo por un simple nombre! Nada, Jesús es común en español y listo!" Translation: What a scandal for a simple name! Nothing [weird about it], Jesús is a common given name in Spanish and that's all!" "Naming children after the Virgin Mary and the saints is definitely a Catholic tradition. For instance, in the liturgic calendar, each day of the year is devoted to a saint, and some priests used to baptize children with the name of the [saint] of the day." "I agree... But only partially, because I would not say only catholic, but Christian, since Orthodox nations also have names like Paul (Pavle), Mary (Marija), Peter (Petar), Joseph (Josip, Josif), John (Jovan, Ivan), etc... but not Jesus. I suppose Protestants abandoned the custom because they saw it as idolatrous." "there is also "diosdado" which I don't believe is now very common in Spain or Latin America, but appears frequently in the Philippines, as a given and a family name. And always reminds me of that english-language put-down: "he thinks he's god's gift to the world". So it comes to this: "Jesús", pronounced in the Spanish fashion, is a perfectly acceptable given name. But "Jesus", pronounced in the English way, is silly and presumptuous, and if you were so imprudent as to name your son that he would be the butt of jokes throughout his life." Source and further information: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=118597&page=3