The name Joshua was in the top five baby boy names in the US from 1983 to 2008, peaking at No. 3 between 2002 and 2006. Its popularity has declined in the past decade but it remains a top 100 boy ...

Named Joshua, not Jesus. The name Joshua (in Hebrew Y’hoshuʿa meaning “deliverance” or “salvation”), was common among Jews in the Ancient Near East as it is today.

His name had a second coming. Scientists say that the name of Christianity’s central figure wasn’t originally Jesus Christ — he went by another title in his mother tongue that&#82… ...

Slate’s archives are full of fascinating stories. For Easter this year, we’re republishing this story from Dec. 24, 2008. Was Jesus in fact a common name back when he was alive?