Moshe

What Moshe means

Possibly “to give birth to”

Transliteration of Hebrew משה (moshé), sometimes conjectured to derive from Egyptian msj (“to give birth to”), a common element in Egyptian names of the form ‘[name of deity] is the one who bore him’.

Source: Wiktionary, “Moshe” (revision 91368594), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Moshe?

US: Rising: up from #535 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #1186 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 728 boys got the name (#435 that year). First in the US records in 1942.

How common

• About 1 in 2,346 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 5,230 baby boys in England and Wales 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 NY (5.22 per 1,000 boys), NJ (5.21 per 1,000 boys), PA (0.21 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Moshe is #435 in the US and #687 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 Moshe were boys.

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

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the US pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Moishe28 US · 23 E&W

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 Moshe

Boys

• Elias#13Form of Elijah, meaning “Yahweh is my god”^*
• Josias#950Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1975, with 5 babies
• Chaim#666“life”^*
• Ezekiel#61“God strengthens”^*
• Asher#28Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #28 vs #150 in 2025
• Azariah#472“Yah Has Helped”^*

For a sister

• Naomi#47“my pleasantness”^*
• Rivka#628Same root as Rebecca, meaning “enchantingly beautiful, captivating…^*
• Eliza#115Editor’s note Up from #175 in 2015 to #115 in 2025 in the US
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Eliana#10Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #10 in 2025. 6 letters, starting with a vowel
• Eden#70possibly “steppe, garden”^*

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