What was Mary's and Joseph's last name?

Answer 1

People didn't really have last names then. Joseph was the son of Jacob, son of Matthan. So if Joseph had a "last name" his name would have been kinda like "Joseph Jacobson." Among the Jews of that time, the people were named by their genealogies. That's the reason for all the "begats" in The Bible. In the same way, Jesus would have been known as Jesus Josephson. Just the way they figured out who was who.

This mostly applies to when people were in their home towns. Then everyone knew who "Joseph" was. When people traveled they were normally identified by their home town. That is why Jesus is often called "Jesus of Nazareth." The "Of Nazareth" is also essentially his last name. It distinguished him from all of the other Jesus' of the era, and by all accounts it was a popular name (It still is. It is the same name as Joshua, It just got turned around a little in the translation)

A lot of other contemporary cultures would also identify people by their occupation. Like, "Joseph the carpenter." My reading of the Bible shows the Jews doing this a little less, and when it does occur it is often referring to some one of a different culture. (Culture could also be given to identify some one)

The later points don't really apply to Joseph. The Bible called Nazareth his home town. So most of the people he ran into on a day to day basis knew him or had heard of his father (Or maybe his brothers), and so "Jacobson" probably worked just fine for him; just like it did for much of humanity for a great number of centuries.

Answer 2

It wasn't like that...people didn't really have last names then. Joseph was the son of Jacob, son of Matthan. So if Joseph had a "last name" his name would have been kinda like "Joseph Jacobson." Among the Jews of that time, the people were named by their genealogies. That's the reason for all the "begats" in the Bible. In the same way, Jesus would have been known as Jesus Josephson. Just the way they figured out who was who. This mostly applies to when people were in their home towns. Then everyone knew who "Joseph" was. When people traveled they were normally identified by their home town. That is why Jesus is often called "Jesus of Nazareth." The "Of Nazareth" is also essentially his last name. It distinguished him from all of the other Jesus' of the era, and by all accounts it was a popular name (It still is. It is the same name as Joshua, It just got turned around a little in the translation) A lot of other contemporary cultures would also identify people by their occupation. Like, "Joseph the carpenter." My reading of the Bible shows the Jews doing this a little less, and when it does occur it is often referring to some one of a different culture. (Culture could also be given to identify some one) The later points don't really apply to Joseph. The Bible called Nazareth his home town. So most of the people he ran into on a day to day basis knew him or had heard of his father (Or maybe his brothers), and so "Jacobson" probably worked just fine for him; just like it did for much of humanity for a great number of centuries.

Answer 3

Because they were in love and planning on getting married, even before God chose Mary to give birth to the Messiah. God knew that she and her future husband, Joseph, would be good God-fearing parents for Jesus.

Matthew 1:18 tells us that Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph, or engaged, but was found to be pregnant by holy spirit 'before they came together. "

Back in Jesus' day, an engagement was as binding as a marriage. The only thing lacking was having relations with your partner. Once a husband 'took his wife home', it meant they were married, officially, legally. Quite often the wedding involved the bride physically going into her husband's home with him.

So, in the case of Joseph and Mary....When Joseph first found out Mary was pregnant, he thought the worst, and was going to cancel the engagement secretly, but an angel spoke to him explaining why Mary was pregnant, and Joseph then understood and agreed to 'take her home', meaning 'marry' her. (Matthew 1:19-25)

So, he became Mary's husband.

Answer 4

The Judaic practice of the time was to call a man after his father's name. So:

• According to Matthew's Gospel. Joseph would have been "Joseph ben ('son of') Jacob" (depending on the Aramaic form for Joseph).
  
• According to Luke's Gospel, Joseph would have been called "Joseph ben Heli".
  

Answer 5

Last names were not used during the period that the Virgin Mary lived.