I remember the first time I saw the name "Jesus" attached to someone who wasn't in the New Testament:
All right, so it's part of a surname. But still, it struck my young self as quite odd that someone would have any name-similarity to Jesus, Himself.
According to the NameVoyager site, which quotes A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman, "Unlike most Christians, who decline to use the name Jesus out of respect, Christians in the Spanish-speaking world commonly bestow it to bring the bearer under the special protection of the son of God."
The fact that the name is usually pronounced HAY-soos probably makes the name sound less jarring, though I'm sure that's the exact pronunciation used by the Spanish-speaking when they're referring to the Lord.
Based on the rise in popularity of Jesus (the name) since the 1960s (rank: 227),through the 1970s (rank: 145) and 1980s (rank: 106), to its peak ranking of 67 in 2003, one can assume that either people got more religion, or there's been a population increase of those for whom Jesus is a more common first name. I'm going with the latter.
It's a curious comparison of perspectives regarding the kind of respect Jesus-the-name receives. Though the Spanish-speaking world as described by Norman considers naming a child Jesus a sign of respect, very few non-Spanish Americans would ever consider the name. Even the Duggars, the baby-making machines, gave each of their nearly two dozen kids J-names, would sooner move onto the K's.
The name, as a name, isn't really controversial, since it was a common form of Joshua back in the (biblical) day.
But a name like God Shammgod, that's another story. Read more...
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