Christian names beginning with J

Meaning: Hebrew "supplanter" (from the heel-grabbing at birth, Genesis 25:26) or "may God protect."

Figure: Patriarch; renamed Israel after wrestling at the Jabbok (Genesis 32).

Jacob is the third patriarch, son of Isaac and Rebekah, whose renaming to Israel after the wrestling at the Jabbok (Genesis 32:28) gives the people of Israel their name. The English form James derives from the same name via Latin Iacobus and is the form used for the New Testament apostles.

Meaning: Hebrew "supplanter" (from Yaakov; see Jacob entry).

Figure: Apostle; son of Zebedee and brother of John the Apostle (Mark 1:19-20; Matthew 4:21-22).

James the Greater is one of the first apostles called by Jesus, alongside his brother John (Mark 1:19-20). Tradition holds that he preached in Spain and was the first apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2). The Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage to his traditional burial site at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, is one of the major Christian pilgrimage routes.

Meaning: Hebrew of contested etymology; traditionally interpreted as "the Lord exalts" or "the Lord throws."

Figure: Major prophet of the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC; book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah is the prophet of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, known particularly for his lamentations over the city. The text "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5) is one of the most-cited scriptural passages on the calling of a person from before birth.

Meaning: Greek "holy name" (hieros + onyma).

Figure: Saint Jerome; translator of the Vulgate; Doctor of the Church (c. 347-420).

Saint Jerome is the fourth-century scholar who translated the Bible into Latin, producing the Vulgate that served as the Catholic Church's standard Bible for over a thousand years. He is one of the four original Doctors of the Western Church. The Catholic and Anglican calendars commemorate him on September 30.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord saves" (the same name as Joshua; Iesous in Greek).

Figure: Jesus Christ, the Lord; the Holy Name itself.

The name Jesus is the Greek form (Iesous) of Hebrew Yeshua, itself a shortened form of Yehoshua (Joshua), meaning "the Lord saves." The angel's instruction to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 makes the meaning explicit: "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." In English-speaking Christian tradition, the name is generally reserved for the Lord himself.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is gracious" (the feminine form of John, via French Jeanne).

Figure: Saint Joan of Arc; French national saint (1412-1431).

Saint Joan of Arc is the early-fifteenth-century French peasant girl whose visions and military leadership turned the Hundred Years' War; burned at the stake at age nineteen on charges of heresy, rehabilitated twenty-five years later, canonized in 1920. The Catholic calendar commemorates her on May 30. She is the patron saint of France and of soldiers.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is gracious" (the feminine form of John).

Figure: Disciple who followed Jesus; witness of the resurrection (Luke 8:3; 24:10).

Joanna is the disciple who, along with other women, followed Jesus and supported the disciples' mission from her means (Luke 8:3); she is named as a witness of the resurrection in Luke 24:10. The name is the feminine form of John and has been in continuous Christian use in its various forms (Joanna, Johanna, Jeanne, Jean).

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is God."

Figure: Minor prophet; book of Joel, quoted by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21).

Joel is one of the twelve minor prophets, whose book contains the prophecy "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh" that Peter quotes at the Pentecost sermon in Acts 2. The name has come into significant modern Christian use across English-speaking families.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is gracious" (Yochanan); Chrysostom is a Greek epithet meaning "golden-mouthed."

Figure: Saint John Chrysostom; Archbishop of Constantinople; Doctor of the Church (c. 347-407).

Saint John Chrysostom ("the Golden-Mouthed") is the late-fourth- and early-fifth-century Archbishop of Constantinople, the greatest preacher of the Christian East, Doctor of the Church. The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is the principal Sunday liturgy of the Byzantine rite. The Catholic calendar honors him on September 13; the Orthodox calendar on November 13.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is gracious" (Yochanan).

Figure: Apostle; Beloved Disciple; Evangelist; brother of James the Greater (Gospel of John; Revelation; 1-3 John).

John the Apostle is the Beloved Disciple of the Fourth Gospel, traditionally identified as the author of the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and the Book of Revelation. The same name belongs to John the Baptist, John Chrysostom, John of the Cross, John Henry Newman, Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II, and countless other Christian figures. John is among the most-used Christian names worldwide.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is gracious" (Yochanan).

Figure: Forerunner of Christ; son of Zechariah and Elizabeth; baptized Jesus in the Jordan (Luke 1; Matthew 3; Mark 1; John 1).

John the Baptist is the forerunner of Christ, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth named by the angel before his birth (Luke 1:13), the prophet who baptized Jesus in the Jordan and who pointed to him as "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29). Jesus himself describes John as the greatest born of women (Matthew 11:11). The Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican calendars include both the Nativity (June 24) and the Beheading (August 29) of John the Baptist.

Meaning: Hebrew "dove."

Figure: Reluctant prophet sent to Nineveh; book of Jonah.

Jonah is the reluctant prophet sent to Nineveh whose flight to Tarshish, three days in the great fish, and eventual prophecy of repentance are told in the book that bears his name. Jesus refers to "the sign of Jonah" (Matthew 12:39-40), making the figure a New Testament reference as well.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord has given."

Figure: Son of King Saul; close friend of David (1 Samuel 18-20; 31).

Jonathan is the son of King Saul whose covenant friendship with David is one of the most-described relationships in the Hebrew Bible (1 Samuel 18-20). His death in battle alongside Saul (1 Samuel 31) and David's lament for him (2 Samuel 1:17-27) close his story. The name has been in continuous Christian use.

Meaning: Hebrew "may God add" (same name as the patriarch and the husband of Mary).

Figure: Disciple who buried Jesus; member of the Sanhedrin who did not consent to the condemnation (Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:43-46; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42).

Joseph of Arimathea is the wealthy disciple and Sanhedrin member who provided his own tomb for the burial of Jesus and who, with Nicodemus, prepared the body for burial. British medieval tradition associated him with the founding of the first Christian community in Britain at Glastonbury, though this tradition is legendary.

Meaning: Hebrew "may God add" (same name as the patriarch Joseph).

Figure: Husband of Mary; foster father of Jesus (Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2).

Joseph of Nazareth is the husband of the Virgin Mary, the foster father of Jesus, the just man (Matthew 1:19) who received the angel's message and protected the Holy Family. The Catholic Church celebrates two major Saint Joseph feasts: the Solemnity on March 19 and Saint Joseph the Worker on May 1. He is the patron saint of fathers, workers, and a happy death.

Meaning: Hebrew "may God add" or "he will add" (the name given to Rachel's firstborn, Genesis 30:24).

Figure: Eleventh son of Jacob; sold into Egypt; rose to second-in-command (Genesis 37-50).

Joseph is the favored son of Jacob and Rachel whose story spans the last fourteen chapters of Genesis, from his sale into Egyptian slavery to his eventual reconciliation with his brothers. Christian tradition has long read Joseph as a figure of Christ. The name is shared with Joseph the husband of Mary in the New Testament.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord saves."

Figure: Successor to Moses; led Israel into the Promised Land (book of Joshua).

Joshua succeeds Moses and leads the people of Israel into the Promised Land (book of Joshua). His name, Yehoshua in Hebrew, is the same name as Yeshua, the name of Jesus in Hebrew and Aramaic; the New Testament Greek Iesous is a transliteration of the same root. Modern Christian families use the name freely.

Meaning: English "joy" (the Christian theological term for the fruit of the Spirit; Galatians 5:22).

Figure: The Christian virtue and fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The name Joy reflects the Christian theological term for the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 ("love, joy, peace, patience, kindness..."). The name has been in continuous use in English-speaking Protestant families and is in some Catholic use.

Meaning: Hebrew "praise."

Figure: Fourth son of Jacob; the tribe of Judah; ancestor of David and Jesus (Genesis 29:35; 49:8-12).

Judah is the fourth son of Jacob, the tribe through whom kingship comes (Genesis 49:10) and through whom David and ultimately Jesus descend. The figure himself has a morally complicated record in Genesis (his treatment of Tamar in Genesis 38). The name appears in modern Christian use; the English form Jude (used for the apostle Jude) is the more common variant.

Meaning: Hebrew "praise" (from Yehuda, the same name as the patriarch Judah).

Figure: Apostle (distinct from Judas Iscariot); author of the Letter of Jude.

Jude (Judas, Thaddaeus, Lebbaeus) is one of the twelve apostles, distinguished in the New Testament from Judas Iscariot. He is traditionally identified with the author of the short Letter of Jude. Catholic tradition holds him as the patron of impossible cases. The English form Jude has come into significant modern Christian use; the form Judas is generally avoided because of the association with Judas Iscariot.