Josh
Masculine · “the Lord is salvation”
Josh is Joshua at its shortest, and Joshua is the same name as Jesus — the Hebrew Yeshua, which Greek rendered one way for the Old Testament and another for the New.
How old is the name Josh?
Josh was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Josh alive today was born around 1981, making them about 44 years old. About 14,500 people named Josh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Josh most popular?
Josh peaked in 1880, reaching #299 nationally. Today it ranks #1699, 1,400 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yehoshua to Josh
The story of Josh
Joshua succeeds Moses and leads Israel into Canaan in the book named for him. English took the name at the Reformation, and it rose enormously in twentieth-century America, standing in the top five for boys through the 1980s and 1990s. Josh was registered as a legal name in its own right alongside it and peaked in the mid-1980s.
Meaning
the Lord is salvation
Through Joshua, from the Hebrew Yehoshua — Yeho, a form of the divine name, and yasha, 'to save'. Greek rendered it Iesous, which Latin took as Iesus, which English took as Jesus. So Joshua and Jesus are the same Hebrew name transmitted by two different routes.
How the name formed
- Yehoshua
- Joshua
- Josh
Related forms: Yehoshua · Josué · Yusha
Pronouncing Josh
JOSH
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Josh
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
- 1975456 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #299reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +2.1%96 in 2025, from 94
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.
Josh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yehoshua in Hebrew — related form
- Josué in Spanish — related form
- Yusha in Arabic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Joshs among us
people named Josh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 17,792 born in 2025 was named Josh
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
Josh 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 Josh is headed
Josh 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.
Josh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Josh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Joshua stands behind it with three thousand years of documented use.
- The identity with the name Jesus is a genuinely striking fact.
- One syllable, plain and unmistakable in any accent.
- It is also an English verb meaning to tease.
- Given outright it stays informal; Joshua on the certificate keeps both registers.
- It is closely dated to the 1980s and 1990s.
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What they receive
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Josh
Masculine · #1699 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Joshs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 14,500 people named Josh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Josh in 2025?
- Josh ranks #1699 among US boy names in 2025, with 96 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Josh?
- About 1 in every 17,792 US boys born in 2025 was named Josh — 96 in all.
- Will my child share the name Josh with classmates?
- Josh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Josh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Levy#1699 · Judd#1699 · Ghaith#1699 · Niall#1699 · Aviraj#1699 · Avian#1699 · Chad#1699 · Ramir#1699
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Josh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Josh and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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