Joshua

What Joshua means

Means “to save”

See הוֹשִׁיעַ (hoshía', “to save”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Joshua” (revision 94540604), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Joshua?

US: Falling: down from #33 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #16 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1985, when 42,194 boys got the name (#4 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 358 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 290 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 298 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DC (8.71 per 1,000 boys), DE (6.79 per 1,000 boys), MD (5.63 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Joshua is #66 in the US and #53 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Joshua were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Jeshua51 US · 3 E&W
• Joshuah10 US
• Jashua5 US
• Joshue5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Joshua

Boys

• Jonathan#89“God has given”^*
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Johnathan#508Variant of Jonathan, meaning “God has given”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• Joseph#29“(God) shall add”^*
• Joe#991Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1936, with 8,023 babies; 230 in 2025

For a sister

• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Michelle#465Feminine form of Michel, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*
• Rebekah#884“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Joshua’s. Rank is US 2025.