What are the cultural reasons behind using a religious name or not for children? For example: lots of Mexican Jesus but not many(or any?) Caucasian Jesus.

by wheresdangerdave

Alternatively lots of Arabic Mohammeds out there but I don't think I've ever met anyone named Buddha? Of course those are different religions and it could just come down to not wanting to blaspheme or maybe Mohammed was already a popular name before the Prophet came along.

But there seems to be a big gap with the name Jesus considering they're all Christians. Is this because of some factor that happened south of the border or was it a common name back in Spain?

SilverRoyce

previous askhistorians questions on the narrower topic of "why is Jesus used as a name in Spanish speaking countries but not english

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1zqscq/why_is_jesus_not_a_common_name_for_english/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/21z27w/was_jesus_ever_a_popular_name_for_boys_among/

both places posit that the "Mexican Jesus" ultimately derives from Spanish Islamic influence

/u/Pixie_Moondrip cites The book 'Moorish Spain' by Richard Fletcher for this point.

.

Buddha ends up being a bad example. While Jesus and Mohammed are just names, Buddha is a title and there have been other Buddhas (for a rough analogy analogy there may be many Jesuses but how many kids are named the Christ? None because they theological/metaphysical claims)