Joab
Masculine · “the Lord is father”
Joab is the Lord is father in Hebrew — and David's general, who wins his wars and murders his rivals and is finally executed for it.
How old is the name Joab?
Joab first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Joab alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,000 people named Joab are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joab most popular?
Joab peaked in 2025, reaching #2304 nationally. Today it ranks #2304, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yo av to Joab
The story of Joab
Joab commands David's army for decades, kills Abner and Amasa by embrace, kills Absalom against explicit orders, and is finally executed on Solomon's instruction while clinging to the altar — one of the most complicated figures in the books of Samuel. Joab appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
the Lord is father
From the Hebrew Yo'av — Yo, a shortened form of the divine name, and av, 'father'. Hebrew builds many names on kinship terms applied to God. The construction is ordinary and the reading undisputed.
How the name formed
- Yo av
- Yo'av
- Joab
Related forms: יואב · Yoav · Joab
Pronouncing Joab
JOH-ab
Two syllables, stress on the first. Hebrew Yoav is yo-AHV.
Nicknames for Joab
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
- 1965
- Most boys named
- 202560 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2304reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +33.3%60 in 2025, from 45
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.
Joab in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- יואב in Hebrew — transliteration
- Yoav in English — spelling variant
- Joab in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Joabs among us
people named Joab are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 28,468 born in 2025 was named Joab
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Avin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Joab's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Avin climbed just as high around 2007, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Avin's path sketches the road Joab is walking now.
Joab 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 Joab is headed
Joab 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.
Joab beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Joab in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Hebrew builds names calling God father is a genuinely striking construction.
- One of the most complicated figures in Samuel carries it.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The biblical bearer is a murderer as well as a great commander.
- It is genuinely rare and will be asked about.
- Yoav is the modern Hebrew form and looks unrelated.
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What they receive
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Joab
Masculine · #2304 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Joabs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Joab are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Joab in 2025?
- Joab ranks #2304 among US boy names in 2025, with 60 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Joab?
- About 1 in every 28,468 US boys born in 2025 was named Joab — 60 in all.
- Will my child share the name Joab with classmates?
- Joab will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Joab
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zian#2304 · Paris#2304 · Enoc#2304 · Lex#2304 · Daxon#2304 · Avion#2304 · Ahmari#2304 · Marquise#2304
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joab? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Joab and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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