... and Iago.
Would anyone without a Spanish background recognise these as Jerome and James?
Plus, at least as far as saints go, there are two versions of James - Iago and Diego And also of Jerome, to judge by the titles of paintings I saw in the Prado last April. So the lucky old Spanish get two for the price of one.
Are there any other saints - Spanish or otherwise - that have two or more names in the same language?
Plus, at least as far as saints go, there are two versions of James - Iago and Diego
There are, at least, 6 more: Santiago, Jacobo, Jaime, Tiago, Yago and Jacob.
BTW, Diego could refer too to Saint Didacus of Alcalá.
Geronimo
Nowadays it's usually written: Jerónimo.
Are there any other saints - Spanish or otherwise - that have two or more names in the same language?
In Spanish, Sonia and Sofía for St. Sophia is the first example that came to my mind now.
Well, I just leaned something. The only Geronimo I know of is a famous American Indian military & religious leader who died in 1909. I never thought much about his name. I sort of figured it was a corruption of his INdian name.
His birth name was was Goyahkla or Goyathlay (One Who Yawns). He was called Geronimo by the Mexican Army. There are various reasons given, the most common is that Geronimo was so fierce that the Mexicans called out for St. Jerome to help them. Why Jerome I have no idea--he's the patron of librarians, translators, interpreters and suchlike. A Catholic priest speculates:
Jerome was connected with the Latin Bible, Confession, and devotion to Mary and her perpetual virginity. These were aspects of Catholicism rejected by the Protestants during the 16th century Reformation. So, during the counter-Reformation, this made St. Jerome a popular saint of devotion in Spain, a fiercely Catholic country. Jerome epitomized what made Catholics different from Protestants.
Combine this Spanish devotion with the conquest of Mexico, and we have Spanish missionaries carrying devotion to St. Jerome to Mexico. I suspect, that in northern Mexico where the event which made Goyathlay into "Geronimo" took place, the devotion to St. Jerome was a popular one. So, in their time of need, the Mexican soldiers invoked St. Jerome in their native tongue, "Geronimo."
The Straight Dope covers why parachutists yell Geronimo when jumping out of a plane.
Hieronymus Bosch is always Hieronymus in English, never Jerome or Jeronimo. So that would count, except that Hieronymus is pretty rare.
There are a number of names in English where the New Testament version of the name, from Greek, and the OT version of the name, from Hebrew, are different: James/Jacob; Mary/Miriam; Jesus/Joshua.
Somewhat similarly, Dorcas and Tabitha are the same woman in the NT, one vesion Greek, one Aramaic. Like Peter and Cephas.
Anna/Anne (the mother of Mary according to post-NT legend) is probably meant as a version of Hannah.
And if you count male and female versions of the same name, I don't know if people know that Jean, Jeanne, Ian, Ivan, Johann, Joan, Joanne, Hans, Hansel etc are all the same name, but maybe they don't all count as English.
How about Carl/Karl/Charles?
Hieronymus Bosch is always Hieronymus in English, never Jerome or Jeronimo.
But Bosch was not Spanish. Plus, according to wikipedia, his name was originally spelled 'Jheronimus'
names in English where the New Testament version of the name, from Greek, and the OT version of the name, from Hebrew, are different: James/Jacob; Mary/Miriam; Jesus/Joshua ... Dorcas and Tabitha are the same woman in the NT, one version Greek, one Aramaic. Like Peter and Cephas
But we're dealing with different languages here, Vinny.
... Jean, Jeanne, Ian, Ivan, Johann, Joan, Joanne, Hans, Hansel etc are all the same name, but maybe they don't all count as English.
I've never considered Jeanne, Johann, Hans or Hansel (or Carl/Karl for that matter) to be English names. French of the first, German for the others.
Jeanne is common in English, but usually as a variation of Jean. Pronounced "jeen," not "zhahn." The only Hansel I've ever heard about is the guy who hung out with Gretel.
Judas and Tadeo refering to St. Jude the apostole would be another example in Spanish.
I think in English you have Jude and Thaddeus refering to St. Jude the apostole, don't you?
Carl is the 47th most popular boy's name in the US. Karl is #228. (2011 figures.) By comparison, Ian is #263.
anillos, yes.
Edited by: Karl Malden
Not original saint names, so maybe not really answering OP's question, but Germán and Armando are both Spanish versions of Hermann.
Also Hernán, Hernando and Fernando are versions of an original Germanic (Visigoth) name.
I would also add Jácome to the list of variants of Santiago/Jacobo provided by Anillos (common as a family name).