Why Is J Such A Popular Initial?

[@NameExplain]

Do you have a J initial anywhere in your name?

[@modmaker7617]

I have zero Js in my full name.

[@ShwetabhJha]

yes

[@thedukeofchutney468]

Yup J is my middle initial. Ironically almost no one can guess what it stands for despite "Joseph" being a decently common name.

[@foogriffy]

Yep! My middle name is actually featured in this video at 6:25.

[@mikejackson19828]

Surname. People sometimes call me MJ.

[@vladimirvilliani6732]

I can’t believe you didn’t mention Junior. Here in America if someone is named, for instance, Clayton Jr., we would just call them CJ

[@langreeves6419]

Especially since calling them "junior" has fallen out of fashion.

[@darreljones8645]

This is the origin of the name of the "Doonesbury" character J. J. Her given name was Joanie Caucus, Junior. And yes, Joanie is her mother.

[@grumpyhale821]

Donald junior.

[@shawnstrittmatter4783]

Came here to say this LOL

[@vladimirvilliani6732]

@@langreeves6419 oh yeah now that you mention there was a Maurice jr in my high school, but everyone just called him Maurice

[@MatanArie]

I would expect that the large number of names starting with J has to do with English being predominantly spoken by Christians, whose names largely derive from Hebrew names. Hebrew tends to have many names structured as God+something, which in Hebrew would usually be Yeho+something (Yehonatan, Yehoshua...), which were translated into Greek as Io+something (Ionáthan, Iesous...) and then into English as Jo+something and Je+something (Jonathan, Jesus...).

[@imagiguard]

I expected him to go into the biblicality of all the J/Y names too. I wonder if some non-western languages have a similar phenomenon.

[@fireball_55]

You're correct. There's a video called "The Most Common Name Nobody Knows". It explains how so many names are derived from John. Names you wouldn't even think of.

[@MsGbergh]

My husband commented that it was odd how a certain golfer was known by his initials V.J. Singh. I explained that Vijay, is a common Indian name.

[@barnabas.csermely]

Jean Pierre and similar name combinations are really common in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. They are almost always are already initialized because of the convention on use of only initials and family name on anything post/package related.

[@LARAUJO_0]

It's also a popular thing in some parts Canada

[@brothertaddeus]

Never really thought about it before, but I have friends who go by AJ, BJ, CJ, DJ, MJ, PJ, TJ, JB, JD, JP, and JR. Can't think of a single person I know who goes by initials that doesn't include J.

[@snardfluk]

You are too young to remember Rocky and Bullwinkle, the classic TV cartoon series in the early 1960s but your point about the letter J was noticed even then by the producers of those shows. When they gave the full names of the characters they were called Bullwinkle J. Moose and Rocket J. Squirrel.

[@pkobalt]

Matt Groening noticed this and Homer, Bart, and Fry all have J as a middle initial in honor of Rocky And Bullwinkle.

[@aquaearthnfirequ_pinsnsavi1721]

I'm not 😂

[@aaronodonoghue1791]

I once read years ago that 70% of all Js occur at the start of a word (I still can't find the website where I read it all those years ago). Also "major" is a common middle-J word, and many middle-J words end in "-ject" (e.g. project, subject, reject, inject, eject, interject) or are derived from such a word (e.g. rejection, ejector)

[@joaopedrobalieirodacosta2844]

Nice examples, much more colloquial than the ones I've thought of: "trojan", "ajar", "Cajun", "majestic".

[@brianedwards7142]

Revolutionaries in France called each other Jacques because it was such a common name if one was caught or overheard he couldn't implicate anyone.

[@lewatoaofair2522]

Actually, “Jesus” derived from “Joshua”. They are the same name in Aramaic, but both traveled through different regions of Europe, becoming separate names.

[@MatanArie]

Joshua was a common name (Moses' brother) amongst Jews from at least c.1300 BCE (c. Exodus) pronounced Yehoshua and meaning God is Salvation. In later years (c. 0 CE) a shortened version of the name was common, Yeshua. Both names existed simultaneously at this time. The shorter version was translated into Ancient Greek as Iesous and eventually entered English as Jesus.

[@komi9261]

@@MatanArie The shortened version is yeshu' not yeshua, that was a version for making it easier to spell I believe

[@JohnRDVSMarston]

Here on Brazil, the most common is, when the person has two names and one starts with a J (João, José, Joana, Jaqueline, Juvelino, Jacinto), that name starts rather than finishes (João Carlos, José Antônio, Joana Caroline, etcetera) Another tidbit of information is that, here, Carlos, Marcos and Antônio are much more common, though we had/ have an increase of Henrique, Thiago and Lucas usage too

[@lowenzahn3976]

Lots of biblical names start with a J. They are usually theophoric names (names that embed the word equivalent of 'god'). This comes from the Israelite deity YHWH aka "Yehovah": Yeho-natan (Jonathan) = "God has given", Yeho-chanan (John) = "God is gracious", Yeho-shua (Joshua) = "God is salvation", etc.

[@pyrotempestwing]

I knew a girl named Christina Jane [lastname] who went by CJ.

[@DroneBeeStrike]

I've personally known an AJ, BJ, CJ, DJ, several JJs (and even a Jay Jay, his actual name - not initials, not a nickname), an LJ, multiple PJs, a TJ, and a VJ. And then there's that famous OJ

[@thedukeofchutney468]

J is my middle initial. Ironically almost no one can guess what it stands for despite "Joseph" being a decently common name.

[@drewbloss173]

blame the name john or James lmaooo those r super common middle names too hehe

[@Nachtster]

My initials are J.J. the second J is from my grandfather and it's the name Jan, which is just the Dutch version of John.

[@BuenoSuertes]

Looking at late 19th-early 20th Century British archives, nearly everyone in the colonial civil service and related organisations (universities, businesses etc) is referred by initials + surname. Nobody is an Edward or Henry in letters and reports, everyone is something like HTT Madge, for example. JRR Tolkien is an example from this era.

[@spinty4402]

I go by KJ and its because of the Junior at the end of my name, I was really hoping you'd mention the topic!

[@lofgrenja]

I immediately thought of J. Edgar Hoover (John Edgar Hoover). But I'm old enough to remember when he was the director of the FBI and my father was an FBI special agent.

[@Kualinar]

In some places, some names are or where mandatory to have. For example, in Québec, for a long time, we had compulsory need to have several given names, and, all boys had Joseph and all girls had Mary in the list. It was imposed by the church who emitted the birth certificate as a baptism certificate. It all changed in the mid 1960's.

[@LARAUJO_0]

8:59 It's probably the other way around actually. Joshua was a major figure in the Books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and of course Joshua long before Jesus came around. On top of that, Jesus is a romanization of his actual name, Yeshua, which might've come from Joshua

[@sdspivey]

From M*A*S*H, Captain BJ Hunnicutt's name is "Bea Jay Hunnicutt".

[@CieJe.Alexander]

I was here to mention this. Hawkeye: Who would name their child [just] 'B.J.' ? B.J.: My mother Bea Hunicutt, and my father Jay Hunicutt. Hawkeye: Ohhh... No I'm not buying it.

[@phyconinja]

I think it has alot to do with the way J sounds. People look at their initials and sees if they sounds good or not. CJ sounds like a name, it rolls nice. CB, CH, or CA doesn't sound like a name, and doesn't roll the same way.

[@OwainGaming]

Welsh names do not use many J in their name due to the fact that J is quite recent in the Welsh language. However one of the most common surnames in Wales is Jones.

[@ThomasAndRandomRobloxGames]

there’s a guy in the year below me in school called christopher and we call him cj even though his last name doesnt begin with j

[@wendychavez5348]

My dad is Randolph Joseph, and while he has used the initials RJ, he usually just goes by Randy. A former coworker is CJ (Chris Johnson), and a local radio personality that I listened to for decades until he retired went by TJ Trout (because he likes to fish, and trout are one of the few reliable game fish in central New Mexico).

[@matthewobrien9050]

My old bosses name is TJ but, he’s Indian and it was short for Tajinderpal haha

[@Illumisepoolist]

My Illumise's name is GJ, which is short for Goomba Bulbs Jr. as in the daughter of another illumise. So the J in her name comes from Junior.

[@ZQQHello1919rty]

In Hispanic or Latin a lot of people uses J names as well, Jesus, Javier, Juan etc.

[@Jan_Koopman]

My neurologist's initials are T.J. I don't know what it stands for and, because of Americanization, I always refer to him with my mother as "Teejay".

[@kenaikuskokwim9694]

Joshua and Jesus are English derivatives of Hebrew Yeshua. Other such OT/NT splits are Miriam/Mary and Jacob/James.

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

JJ Mccullough

[@scoobydoo5934]

This made me wonder what the name “Jordan” is both the name given to a person, and also the name of a country…..

[@burner555]

He already made a video about it 3 months ago

[@burner555]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYi2mZZ_qcdmp7c

[@scoobydoo5934]

@@burner555 oh thanks for letting me know!

[@New_Wave_Nancy]

I've seen Jeffery or even Jeffrey but never Jeffry before.

[@JeeWeeD]

My names are Jan Willem (John William), named after both my grandfathers, so yes, I am a John, and yes, I got it from a family member

[@therongjr]

The best J initial combo is "JFC"

[@ShnoogleMan]

A big thing you missed on the explanation of J names is that names like John, Jack, James, Joseph, Josh, Jordan, Jonathan, and Jacob all come from Hebrew roots and became popular with the spread of the Bible. Many of these Hebrew names start with a Y, which became an I in Greek and Latin and a J in modern English.

[@JeremyWS]

Actually it's the other way around, Jesus is derived from Joshua (not Joshua from Jesus). Joshua entered English from the Old Testament name translated from Hebrew Yehoshua, which then later got shortened to Yeshua. [The name Joshua appears 202 times in the Old Testament.] The Yeshua got transliterated into Greek as Ιεσυς (Iesus). [You can fun this out if you research how the Old Testament got translated into the Septuagint.] The names of Yehoshua and Yeshua got transliterated as Joshua in English. The Greek name of Ιεσυς (Iesus) then got transliterated into Jesus in English. So the name Jesus actually comes from Joshua, not Joshua coming from Jesus. I had to correct you on that small detail.

[@PuzzledMonkey]

In ancient Hebrew, Yehu- or Ya- or Yo- was a common name beginning, conveying the meaning God, as in gift of God or grace of God, and as these names made their way through Greek and Latin into English, the yod was transliterated into J. So gift of God, Yonatan, became Jonathan, etc.

[@TheseUseless]

My middle name is John. I think this could be blamed on the prominence of junior in America and middle names like John and Jane worldwide. I myself am a T.J. I think just because my parents liked the sound of that abbreviation.

[@GameyGaming]

5:27 Hey look it’s me and…. me? Which one am I? Kinda having an identity crisis here

[@samwill7259]

Fuck it Gonna name my kid Jelly.

[@Vikezor]

and then people will ask "u jelly?" and it will be really funny

[@DJPJ.]

A periode my nickname was PJ. I'm Norwegen but my nickname was pronounced in English. PS. That's the reason for my username.

[@RwingDsquad]

It helps the show frive.

[@erinrising2799]

Like half my male relatives have J names (the other half are R names) We got Justin, Joshua, Jason, Joey, John, and Jakie

[@GumikoVT]

Interesting. I actually go by my initials J.D. I knew it was common, but seems it's even more common than I thought.

[@Jan_Koopman]

The j is pretty common at the end of words in Hungarian, for example: tej (milk) and the imperative forms of verbs for "You" singular, informal.

[@williamedwardhackman4695]

The chracter named BJ in Barney and Friends stands for Barney Junior even though he's called BJ for short.

[@Tone720]

Surprised as the wrestling one you didn't have AJ Styles, although the Styles part is just a stage name, his real name being Allen Jones.

[@michellebwilson2610]

For hundreds of years in Catholic countries, esp France and French Canada, a huge percentage of boy’s names have Joseph in them somewhere. This is a big contributor to the frequency of J in nicknames.

[@johnrey7365]

J.I.M. J - James I - Ivan M - Mark J.O.H.N. J - Jack O - Owen H - Harvey N - Neill J.A.C.K. J - John A - Alan C - Carl K - Kevin

[@aussieman8990]

But there is no J in periodic table.

[@Kunaimaru]

In my family there are a lot of Michaels, not a single John or Jack.

[@Kamarovsky_KCM]

Innit also true that many of the J's mean Junior? Like a Rick Surname Junior would be called RJ Surname

[@New_Wave_Nancy]

My brother was named Peter James with the intention of calling him PJ but that somehow never happened. (He's called Pete.)

[@brianedwards7142]

P. G Wodehouse? lol.

[@Benwut]

My brother goes by NJ cos his real name does not fit his appearance, cos we're half-white half-latino, so his name is Nazir Juan, which just sounds a little weird cos he does not look even remotely arab, looking just like my mexican mum, so he just goes by NJ.

[@MrBerus593]

I just wander why the “C” in English and Spanish makes the “K” noise.

[@crazymusicchick]

So in my classes at school like half had an j name , also look at the family from 19 kids n counting that family named 19 kids with a j name.

[@blookarakal4417]

I Have personally known a JJ.

[@MsGbergh]

If Jesus Christ came back to work, I think he might call himself CJ, to blend in. 😊

[@playgirl7305]

Or JC. Not to be confused with Jay-Zee for non English speakers.

[@cikgutinghuaeechannel4782]

KJ is ex Malaysia health minister.

[@wilh3lmmusic]

TLDR: names starting with J are common because a lot of them come from phrases involving God (Yahweh in Hebrew) Example: Joshua Comes from Hebrew “Yehoshua” Translation: “Yahweh is salvation” Just one of many

[@MatameVideos]

I just think the letter "J" sounds really neat, maybe people think it looks like a name on it's own

[@bigcrowfly]

HOMER J. SIMPSON

[@incrediblemulk42]

Philip J. Fry

[@sandybarnes887]

Homer J. (Jay) Simpson. As written behind the bush

[@1234booky]

Are initial names a thing in other languages?

[@Sienrel]

me and my 4 siblings are all PJ's

[@perceivedvelocity9914]

Hahaha. IMO JJ Abrams is mostly know for rebooting and destroying franchise's at this point. His studio has become the kiss of death for pop culture.

[@Ujabuja]

there are a couple of these I bet some people would rather not be named now adays.. (BJ for example)

[@bj.bruner]

I have wondered this myself, having a J initial lol

[@jmer3536]

Because its the best Letter in the alphabet

[@mathieuleader8601]

Homer J Simpson and Bullwinkle J Moose

[@RosyMiranto]

I have no J in my name, but Carl Johnson from GTA San Andreas is the most popular CJ that i know

[@username65585]

Initial names seem pretty common in India, like S S Rajamouli.

[@helenbaumander3953]

Sorry, but the Hebrew Yeshua came before Jesus.

[@casspeich926]

lol ofc jk rowling fakes her own name.

[@Felipe2000-r6k]

Mine is BJ, Benny Jones.

[@mustafah6150]

Other popular J names: Jerry Jerome Yajonkina

[@mustafah6150]

Also Jim, Jane and Justin, too!

[@overtonpendulum2071]

Homer J. Simpson Donald J. Trump

[@moonpie1971]

Both are bloated and have an unnatural color.

[@ammarahsan2157]

U didn't mention JK Rowling

[@moonpie1971]

Right at the beginning.