Joaquin
Masculine · “Yahweh raises up”
Joaquin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 35,601 boys against 53 girls since 1880.
Joaquin is the Spanish form of Joachim, a name carried out of Hebrew, through Greek and Latin, and into the Iberian peninsula. It has been on American records since the nineteenth century, and it left its mark on the map long before that: California's San Joaquin River and the valley around it were named for Saint Joachim. Two syllables, the stress landing firmly on the second — wah-KEEN.
How old is the name Joaquin?
Joaquin first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Joaquin alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 33,000 people named Joaquin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joaquin most popular?
Joaquin peaked in 2008, reaching #275 nationally. Today it ranks #355, 80 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Joaquin appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Yehoyaqim to Joaquin
The story of Joaquin
The name begins in Hebrew as Yehoyaqim, passes into Greek as Ioakeim, and into Latin as Joachim. The second-century text known as the Gospel of James — outside the biblical canon — gives Joachim as the name of Mary's father, and that tradition carried the name across medieval Christian Europe, where it settled differently in each language: Joaquim in Portuguese and Catalan, Gioacchino in Italian, Joachim in French and German, Joaquín in Spanish. Spanish colonization brought it to the Americas, and Spanish missionaries and explorers left it on the landscape of what is now California. In American records it has been present since the nineteenth century, familiar without ever being everywhere.
Meaning
Yahweh raises up, or Yahweh establishes
From the Hebrew name Yehoyaqim, borne in the Hebrew Bible by a king of Judah, rendered Jehoiakim in English translations.
How the name formed
- Yehoyaqim
- Ioakeim
- Joachim
- Joaquín
- Joaquin
Related forms: Joaquín · Joaquim · Joaquim · Gioacchino · Joachim · Joachim
Pronouncing Joaquin
wah-KEEN
The J is the Spanish jota, a breath at the back of the throat, so the start comes closer to a soft H than an English J: hwah-KEEN. Many American speakers simply say wah-KEEN. In Spanish the name is written with an accent, Joaquín, marking that second-syllable stress; US paperwork usually drops it.
Nicknames for Joaquin
High
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
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 20081,245 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #275reached in 2008
- Change vs 2023
- −7.4%925 in 2025, from 999
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.
Joaquin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joaquín in Spanish — spelling variant
- Joaquim in Portuguese — same name
- Joaquim in Catalan — same name
- Gioacchino in Italian — same name
- Joachim in French — same name
- Joachim in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Joaquins among us
people named Joaquin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,847 born in 2025 was named Joaquin
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 Marlin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Joaquin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marlin climbed just as high around 1935, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marlin's path sketches the road Joaquin is walking now.
Joaquin 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 Joaquin is headed
Joaquin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Joaquin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Joaquin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A single settled meaning, traceable in an unbroken line from Hebrew through Greek and Latin — no guesswork required when someone asks.
- Recognized on sight across Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Italian, French and German, each with its own established form.
- Several genuine short forms already in use — Quino, Joaco, Quim — rather than ones you would have to invent.
- On American records since the nineteenth century, so it arrives with a long history rather than as a recent coinage.
- Two syllables, easy to say once heard, and distinct from anything else likely to be in a classroom.
- The pronunciation is not obvious to English speakers who have not met it. Expect a lifetime of gentle correction — joe-a-KWIN and JWAH-kin are the usual misfires.
- The Spanish spelling takes an accent on the í, and US forms, schools and databases will mostly strip it. Decide early which version you consider the real one.
- The initial J invites people to reach for an English J sound. Some Joaquins let it happen; others correct it every time. Either is workable, but it is a choice that keeps recurring.
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What they receive
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Joaquin
Masculine · #355 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Joaquins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 33,000 people named Joaquin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Joaquin in 2025?
- Joaquin ranks #355 among US boy names in 2025, with 925 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Joaquin?
- About 1 in every 1,847 US boys born in 2025 was named Joaquin — 925 in all.
- Will my child share the name Joaquin with classmates?
- Joaquin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Joaquin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hendrix#354 · Briggs#356 · Santino#353 · Bryce#357 · Titus#358 · Damien#352 · Ibrahim#351 · Franklin#359
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joaquin? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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