Yoshua
Masculine · “the Lord is salvation”
Yoshua is a Spanish-language spelling of Joshua, written so that Spanish speakers say it correctly on sight. Underneath is one of the oldest names in the Hebrew Bible, and the one that Jesus also carries.
How old is the name Yoshua?
Yoshua first appears in US birth records in 1984 — 41 years ago. The typical Yoshua alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 600 people named Yoshua are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yoshua most popular?
Yoshua peaked in 2025, reaching #3181 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yehoshua to Yoshua
The story of Yoshua
Joshua leads Israel into Canaan after Moses, and his name has been read aloud in synagogues and churches for millennia. English took it from the Hebrew through Latin. Spanish speakers, whose j is a throat sound rather than the English one, respell it Yoshua so that the first letter carries the right consonant — the same instinct that gives Yamileth and Yaritza their opening. It is used across Mexico, Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
Meaning
the Lord is salvation
From Hebrew Yehoshua, built on a form of the divine name and a verb meaning to save or deliver; the shortened Hebrew form Yeshua gives the Greek Iesous and the English Jesus.
How the name formed
- Yehoshua
- Joshua
- Yoshua
Related forms: Joshua · Yehoshua · Yusha · Josué
Pronouncing Yoshua
yoh-SHOO-ah
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. English speakers read the y as a consonant, which is correct here.
Nicknames for Yoshua
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
- 1984
- Most boys named
- 202537 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3181reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +19.4%37 in 2025, from 31
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.
Yoshua in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joshua in English — same name
- Yehoshua in Hebrew — same name
- Yusha in Arabic — same name
- Josué in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Yoshuas among us
people named Yoshua are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 born in 2025 was named Yoshua
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 Johncarlos test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yoshua's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Johncarlos climbed just as high around 2010, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Johncarlos's path sketches the road Yoshua is walking now.
Yoshua 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 Yoshua is headed
Yoshua looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 24% 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.
Yoshua beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yoshua in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It solves a real problem: the English J is the wrong sound in Spanish, and the Y is the right one.
- Joshua is universally recognized, so the name is never unfamiliar.
- A settled meaning with a record measured in thousands of years.
- Joshua and Josué are both far more written, and this spelling will be corrected often.
- The Yoshi clip carries a strong and cheerful association that is hard to escape.
- Yoshua looks Japanese to American readers meeting it cold, which is a recurring small confusion.
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Yoshua
Masculine · #3181 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yoshuas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Yoshua are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yoshua in 2025?
- Yoshua ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yoshua?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Yoshua — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yoshua with classmates?
- Yoshua will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yoshua
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diamond#3181 · Walden#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Kris#3181 · Esau#3181
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yoshua? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yoshua and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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
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