Does it continue to amaze you that both christians and non-christians call Jesus "Jesus of Nazareth"?

First: "Nazarene" is the term for someone from Nazareth, like a Californian is from California... so there isn't a conflict.

And Nazareth was a well establish city 100 years BEFORE Jesus' family moved there.

C'mon... are you digging for something to criticize?

I don't think it really makes that much difference. Nazareth is in Galilee, and Jesus was certainly a Galilean, so to call him Jesus of Nazareth is not a huge mistake.

As for Nazarene meaning Zealot... there seems to be a great deal of confusion, even among historians over the Jewish religious sects of Jesus' time. I have heard Jesus described as an Essene by some, a Pharisee by others, now I have heard a Zealot... oftentimes Pharisees are mixed up with Sadducees in the Gospels even thought the two groups were apparently quite hostile to one another. So I think we have to take any descriptions of Jewish sects from that time with a pinch of salt.

Isaiah said "He shall be called a Nazarene". That was 500 or 600 years beforehand. The word Banch is what Nazareth comes from and Isaiah called the Messiah the Branch

11:1

[ The Branch From Jesse ] A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Nazareth was a region and of course people would live there even if the modern site was not there yet. In Jesus day what was there was considered no big deal. The apostles originally told Nathaniel "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" when Nathaniel first told them about this Jesus guy.

Isaiah 9

1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

2 The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death [a]

a light has dawned.

No, i'm not amazed since Jesus the Nazarene is a correct description of it: it was a member (and later the chief) of the jewish sect founded by John the Baptist called Nazirites and more known under the roman name of Essenians/Essenes.

I think you are right, is likely that the evangelists learned of it and decided to make it the hometown of Jesus, due to the similar sounding

It's an old misinterpretation, it's been so ingrained into the story that it's nearly impossible to remove. It's much like Merlin or Lancelot in the Arthur stories, not part of the original but completely ingrained.

The Old Testament prophesies says that the messiah would be born and raised in Bethlehem. According to the Gospels this knock off named Jesus was born and Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth that's not a Hebrew prophesy being fulfilled according to Micah 5:2.

The fact that Jesus died for me is very important. Whether we should say he came from Nazareth or call Him a Nazarene is totally inconsequential.

Does it continue to amaze me that people make mistakes over these little issues - no it doesn't, nor does it cease to amaze me how many little dregs people will look for to find fault in others.

Yes, as does the fact that it took 'Christians' 300 years to decide the status of Jesus

Well it has something to do with early christians trying to make the claim he was the messiah that fulfilled all the prophecies. The truth is his credentials were suspect from the beginning. I bet about 1/10 Christians even knows why there are the begets.

It doesn't refer to the place of his birth, or where he's from.

It refers to the rock band - the ones who did Love Hurts.

Jesus played bass for them back in the early 70s, when they opened for the Stones.