The True Names: Miryam, Yosef, and Yeshua

The Names We Were Given

For centuries, the world has spoken of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in names that were never their own. These anglicized versions came through layers of translation and colonization — from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English. By the time they reached us, they had been stripped of their sound, their meaning, and their connection to the people who first carried them.

Their Real Names

In truth, the Holy Family’s names were:

• Miryam — not Mary.

• Yosef — not Joseph.

• Yeshua — not Jesus.

These names are rooted in Aramaic and Hebrew, part of the Afro-Asiatic language family — the same family that includes Ancient Egyptian, Berber, Hausa, and Amharic in Ethiopia. This means the names we speak today are not European at all, but tied to the same linguistic family as Africa’s earliest civilizations.

Why Names Carry Power

Names are not just sounds — they carry history, identity, and dignity. When colonizers changed the Holy Family’s names, they weren’t just translating; they were reshaping identity. Stripping Miryam, Yosef, and Yeshua of their true names allowed Europe to claim the story as its own. Restoring their names is an act of decolonization, returning them to the Afro-Asiatic world they belonged to.

A Shared Heritage

Understanding these names reminds us that the Holy Family were not white Europeans, but people connected to Africa through culture, trade, and language. The same linguistic roots that formed their names also gave us Ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and the kingdoms of Nubia. This is not a separate world — it is part of our heritage.

Why It Matters Today

When we say Miryam, Yosef, and Yeshua, we restore truth. We reconnect the Holy Family to their Afro-Asiatic world. And we remind ourselves — and our children — that divinity was spoken first in a tongue connected to Africa. These names are not just history. They are a living testimony that holiness has always sounded like us.