Jasper

The 3 Magi are not named in the canonical Gospels themselves; the names Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar first appear in the Excerpta Latina Barbari around 500 CE and were popularized by the Golden Legend in the 13th century.

The relics venerated as those of the Magi were transported from Milan to Cologne Cathedral in 1164, where they remain today inside the magnificent Shrine of the 3 Kings, a masterwork of medieval goldsmithing.

The name picked up a second life through the gemstone jasper, an opaque variety of chalcedony prized in antiquity, mentioned twelve times in the Bible and listed among the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem in Revelation.

The English potter Josiah Wedgwood introduced his celebrated jasperware in 1775, and the painter Jasper Johns, born in 1930, became a defining figure of American Pop and Neo-Dada art with works such as Flag and 3 Flags.

The character Jasper Hale in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series further expanded the name’s contemporary recognition.

Jasper appears in US Social Security records continuously from 1880, hovering in the lower ranks through most of the 20th century before a striking modern revival.

It re-entered the top 1000 in 1980 after a brief absence and has climbed almost without interruption since.

By 2024 it sat near No. 80, its highest position in more than a century. The name has also surged in England, Wales, Australia, and New Zealand, where it has become a fixture of the soft, vintage-revival category alongside Felix and Theodore.

Contemporary bearers include the British comedian Jasper Carrott, the actor Jasper Newton Daniel (founder of Jack Daniel’s whiskey), and the eldest son of the British actress Sienna Miller.

Jasper now ranks among the most successful biblical-by-tradition revivals of the post-2000 era.