Jay Abdo, Syrian actor: how I changed my name from Jihad to Jay and (eventually) conquered Hollywood' "Jihad", although not an uncommon first name in the Middle East, tends to denote militant Islam in the west, particularly in America. "You can't explain to everyone that this name doesn't mean the concept and that originally it was a Christian name," says Abdo.
He grew fed up with telling every person he met that he and Afashe are secularists who respect all faiths and follow none. So Jihad became Jay and after a long and fruitless search for acting work, including more than 100 failed auditions, he found a job: working in a flower shop.'