Hosea
Masculine · “salvation”
Hosea is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 5,481 boys against 20 girls since 1880.
Hosea is salvation in Hebrew — the same root as Joshua and Jesus — and he is the prophet told to marry a faithless wife as a living metaphor.
How old is the name Hosea?
Hosea was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Hosea alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 3,200 people named Hosea are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hosea most popular?
Hosea peaked in 1885, reaching #355 nationally. Today it ranks #2145, 1,790 places below that high. See the whole 1885 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hoshea to Hosea
The story of Hosea
Hosea is told to marry Gomer, who is unfaithful, and to name their children Not-Pitied and Not-My-People — the whole marriage staged as a sign of Israel's relationship with God, and then reversed at the end. The book is among the earliest of the prophets. Hosea appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
salvation
From the Hebrew Hoshea, from the root y-sh-' , 'to save' or 'deliver'. Joshua is Yehoshua, 'the Lord saves', from the same root, and Jesus descends from that. Numbers says Moses renamed Hoshea as Yehoshua. The Hebrew is transparent and undisputed.
How the name formed
- Hoshea
- Hosea
Related forms: הושע · Oseas · Hoshea
Pronouncing Hosea
hoh-ZAY-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Hebrew Hoshea is ho-SHAY-a with an sh.
Nicknames for Hosea
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 195169 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #355reached in 1885
- Change vs 2022
- +3.1%67 in 2025, from 65
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Hosea in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- הושע in Hebrew — transliteration
- Oseas in Spanish — related form
- Hoshea in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, California.
Hoseas among us
people named Hosea are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 25,494 born in 2025 was named Hosea
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Hosea sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Hosea is headed
Hosea should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Hosea beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hosea in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the prophet's own marriage was the message is a first-rate piece of scripture.
- The salvation meaning ties it to Joshua and Jesus.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- The book's central image is a painful one.
- English and Hebrew pronounce the middle consonant differently.
- It reads as strongly biblical.
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What they receive
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Hosea
Masculine · #2145 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hoseas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Hosea are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hosea in 2025?
- Hosea ranks #2145 among US boy names in 2025, with 67 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hosea?
- About 1 in every 25,494 US boys born in 2025 was named Hosea — 67 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hosea with classmates?
- Hosea will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hosea
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Wendell#2145 · Adair#2145 · Musab#2145 · Shayan#2145 · Alastair#2145 · Jahsir#2145 · Banner#2145 · Baylen#2145
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hosea? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hosea and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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