ישו

Where it comes from

From ישוע, itself from יהושע. There are two common explanations for the absence of the ayin:

* Eruvin 53b:6-7 relates that Galileans did not distinguish the letters ayin, ḥet, he, and aleph, making the simplest explanation that this was a more accurate rendering of his name from the perspective of Judeans and Babylonians. Samaritan Hebrew continues to not distinguish these letters today, and Samaria is between Galilee and Judea. A pronunciation of Jesus's Syriac name ܝܫܘܥ without the ayin would render "yeshu".

* Alternatively, it has been suggested that ישו is a deliberate pun on יש״ו. However, most religious Jews reserve yimákh shemó for people who historically were major foes against the Jews like Haman and Adolf Hitler.

It should be noted that:

* Many individuals in the Talmud are called Yeshu, not all of whom can be the same person as their stories happen at very different times in Jewish history.

* The name is found on one 1st-century ossuary, along with the more common Yeshua.