Joshua
From the Hebrew Yehoshua, Yahweh is salvation, the successor to Moses. The same name in its later Aramaic form is the source of Jesus.
Joshua in 2025
Joshua was given to 4,773 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 116th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 695 babies born.
The history of Joshua
Joshua reached its highest point in 1989, when 44,308 babies were given the name, ranking 6th that year. Its best-ever ranking was 3rd, in 2002.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 1,253,882 babies have been named Joshua. Half of them were born before 1991, which places the name's centre of gravity with Millennials.
Joshua by decade
| Decade | Babies named Joshua | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 465 | 413 |
| 1890s | 287 | 698 |
| 1900s | 243 | 953 |
| 1910s | 926 | 1,019 |
| 1920s | 1,143 | 1,168 |
| 1930s | 948 | 1,172 |
| 1940s | 1,156 | 1,080 |
| 1950s | 2,221 | 965 |
| 1960s | 5,339 | 421 |
| 1970s | 141,119 | 12 |
| 1980s | 399,085 | 6 |
| 1990s | 330,123 | 4 |
| 2000s | 232,528 | 3 |
| 2010s | 106,416 | 15 |
| 2020s | 31,883 | 82 |
Where Joshua is heading
Joshua has fallen 52% over the past decade, from 9,868 babies in 2015 to 4,773 in 2025.
Names like Joshua
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Joshua.