Jesus’ name in English comes from the Latin Isus, which is a transliteration of the Greek Iesous, which is a transliteration of the Aramaic name Yeshua, which comes from the Hebrew Yehoshua, or Joshua. The name comes from the Hebrew verb yasha, which means “he saves,” and the proper name “Ya,” which is short for the name Yahweh. Put together, Jesus’ name in its original languages means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation.”
In the Latin-speaking Christianity of medieval Western Europe (and among Catholics and many Protestants today), the most common Christogram became “IHS,” or “IHC”—denoting the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, (in English, Iesous, pronounced “ee-ay soos”), ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, that is, Iota-Eta-Sigma-Omicron-Omega-Sigma—shortened to Iota-Eta-Sigma, or ΙΗΣ. Iota-Eta-Sigma.
The Greek letter iota is represented by I, and the eta by H, while the Greek letter sigma is either in its lower-case form, represented by C, or its final form, represented by S. Because the Latin-alphabet letters I and J were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, “JHS” and “JHC” are equivalent to “IHS” and “IHC.” Used in Latin since the seventh century, the first use of IHS in an English document dates from the fourteenth century.
“IHS” is sometimes interpreted as meaning “Jesus Hominum Salvator,” which is Latin for “Jesus, Savior of Men.” It is also connected with “In Hoc Signo,” which is an abbreviated form of “In Hoc Signo Winces,” which is Latin for “In this sign you will conquer.” This is the phrase that appeared to Constantine (along with the Chi-Rho symbol) in a dream on the evening before the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312AD. This was interpreted as a promise of victory if the sign of the Chi-Rho, the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek, was painted on the soldiers’ shields. Constantine’s victory marked the beginning of his conversion to Christianity.