Yeshua
Masculine · “YHWH is salvation”
Yeshua is the Hebrew and Aramaic name behind two of the most familiar names in English: Joshua and Jesus. It appears in its own right in the later books of the Hebrew Bible, where Joshua son of Nun and Jeshua the high priest are both written this way. Three unhurried syllables, ending on an open vowel — yeh-SHOO-ah.
How old is the name Yeshua?
Yeshua first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Yeshua is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,700 people named Yeshua are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yeshua most popular?
Yeshua peaked in 2024, reaching #983 nationally. Today it ranks #1005, 22 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Yeshua appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Yehoshua to Yeshua
The story of Yeshua
Yeshua is the contracted form of the older Hebrew Yehoshua, and it is the spelling used in the post-exilic books of the Hebrew Bible — Ezra and Nehemiah write both the high priest Jeshua and Joshua son of Nun this way. By the Second Temple period it was one of the most ordinary male names in Judea and Galilee, and it was the everyday Aramaic name of Jesus of Nazareth. When Jewish translators and later the Gospel writers rendered it into Greek, it became Iesous, then Latin Iesus, and from there Jesus in English and Jesús in Spanish. The same root traveled a second, quieter road into English as Joshua. The Hebrew original came into American use much later, chiefly through Messianic Jewish congregations and Spanish-speaking evangelical families, which is why its recent wave shows up most strongly in California, Texas and Florida.
Meaning
"YHWH is salvation" — the Lord saves
Yeshua is the shortened later form of Yehoshua, built from the divine name plus the root meaning to save or deliver.
How the name formed
- Yehoshua
- Yeshua
- Iesous
- Iesus
- Jesus
Related forms: Joshua · Yehoshua · Jesús · Iesous · Isho · Isa
Pronouncing Yeshua
yeh-SHOO-ah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Many English speakers land on yeh-SHOO-uh, with a softer final vowel; both are heard, and the name survives either.
Nicknames for Yeshua
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
- 1976
- Most boys named
- 2024229 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #983reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −1.7%225 in 2025, from 229
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.
Yeshua in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joshua in English — same name
- Yehoshua in Hebrew — related form
- Jesús in Spanish — related form
- Iesous in Greek — transliteration
- Isho in Syriac / Aramaic — related form
- Isa in Arabic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Yeshuas among us
people named Yeshua are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,591 born in 2025 was named Yeshua
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 Darl test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yeshua's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Darl climbed just as high around 1931, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Darl's path sketches the road Yeshua is walking now.
Yeshua is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Yeshua is headed
Yeshua looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 41% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Yeshua beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yeshua in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and transparent — "the Lord saves" — which is unusual and part of why parents come looking for it.
- It is the direct ancestor of Joshua and Jesus, so the sound is instantly placeable even to people meeting the spelling for the first time.
- A documented record stretching back to the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judea, with no gap in the line.
- Real short forms already exist: Yeshu, Shua, and Josh by way of its English cousin.
- This is the Hebrew name of Jesus, and most people will hear it that way. It reads as an open statement of faith, which is exactly the point for some families and more than others want a child carrying into every classroom and job interview.
- Competing spellings circulate — Yeshuah, Y'shua, Yahshua, Jeshua — so expect to spell it aloud and to correct forms now and then.
- Its wave here is very recent and concentrated in a few states, so a child named Yeshua will likely be the only one at school. That means no confusion, and also a name that always needs a brief introduction.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Yeshua to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Yeshua? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Yeshua
Masculine · #1005 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yeshuas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Yeshua are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yeshua in 2025?
- Yeshua ranks #1005 among US boy names in 2025, with 225 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yeshua?
- About 1 in every 7,591 US boys born in 2025 was named Yeshua — 225 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yeshua with classmates?
- Yeshua will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yeshua
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Arden#1005 · Noa#1005 · Castiel#1008 · Howard#1002 · Watson#1008 · Aden#1008 · Rayyan#1008 · Benito#1002
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yeshua? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yeshua and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle