St. Jude, also known as Judas Thaddeus, was one of the Twelve Apostles. St. Jude is frequently depicted with a flame above his head, as he was present at Pentecost. He is also depicted with a club or rod (a symbol of his martyrdom) and a medallion-like image of Jesus.
Legend has it that in the early days of Christianity, few people would pray for St. Jude’s intercession, for fear that they might be thought to be praying to Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. For this reason, St. Jude became a popular saint to beseech for intercession for hopeless and impossible cases (as it was assumed he was not already being asked for intercessory prayer by many of the faithful). Naturally, this has made St. Jude one of the most popular saints and, it is to be assumed, one of heaven’s busiest intercessors.
Catholic Bricks 
Hence his name was also shortened to “Jude” so as not to be confused with Iscariot. So are you saying he became the patron of impossible causes because if the cause wasn’t impossible, no one would be willing to pray to him in case he would be confused with Judas Iscariot?
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I believe the origin was that few people were praying to St. Jude (because of the confusion), so it was assumed he had no other interceding to do at the moment. Ironically, this belief led to him becoming what is probably one of the most prayed-to saints!
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Good point!
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