Isa (name)

Isa (Arabic script عيسى) is an Arabic name corresponding to Jesus in English. It is a common given name for Arab men.

Arabic-speaking Muslims refer to Jesus as Isa, while Arabic-speaking Christians refer to Jesus as Yasu (Arabic script يسوع). Jesus is considered a prophet in Islam (see Islamic view of Jesus), and his name is used in these two forms in the Qur'an and Arabic versions of the Bible, respectively.

Etymology

The name Jesus is derived from the Latin "Iēsus", which in turn comes from the Greek Polytonic|Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). The Greek is a Hellenized form of the Aramaic name Yēšua (ישוע), a short form of Hebrew Y^ehōšua (יהושע). Y^ehōšua (יהושע) is the name by which Moses called his successor as leader of the Israelites, known in English as Joshua; it means 'the Lord is salvation', or literally 'Yahweh saves'. There is a major discrepancy between the Hebrew and Muslim Arabic forms of this name, since the original Hebrew form of this name has the voiced pharyngeal `Ayin or `Ayn consonant at the end of the name (as does Christian Arabic يسوع "yasū`"), while the Muslim Arabic form عيسى "`īsā" has the `Ayn at the beginning of the name. For this reason, some claim the Arabic name Isa is related to the Biblical name Esau (which begins with a pharyngeal), but it is also similar in the vowels to the Aramaic version of Jesus, viz. "Eesho" (Aramaic forms of the name, however, still have the voiced pharyngeal `Ayn consonant at the end of the name).

See also

* Arabic name

Non-Arabic

It is also a Teutonic female name meaning "iron".

In addition, is it a female Chamoru name, meaning "rainbow".