One of the defining features of early Christians is that they invoked the name of Jesus. This usage of the name of Jesus stands in stark contrast to prior Jewish conventions that utilised the name of YHWH. This study focuses upon the christological import of the use of the name of Jesus in various activities, especially cultic acts. In order to shed light on the significance of the use of the name of Jesus in early Christianity, a History-of-Religions approach is employed whereby both Greco-Roman and Jewish conventions are explored in terms of the use of numinous and apotropaic names in various activities. Thereafter, various Christian materials are examined and compared to the Greco-Roman and Jewish materials (literary and non-literary) with the purpose of drawing conclusions on the meaning and function of the use of the name Jesus in early Christianity.