How Many People Are Named Joshua?
An estimated 1,203,779 people in the United States have the first name Joshua, ranking it #17 among all first names. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 33 years old, and Joshua peaked in popularity in 1989 with 44,307 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Andrew (1,151,621).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Joshua as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Joshua paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Joshua is overwhelmingly male, 4,953 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
1,203,779
About 1 in 285 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Common
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
33
years old
Peak Year
1989
44,307 births
Total Registered
1,249,012
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Joshua
Joshua is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 1,249,012 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Joshua as a male name
Ranked #57 in 2024
5,244 male births in 2024
Peak: 1989 (44,099 births)
Joshua as a female name
Ranked #11,545 in 2024
8 female births in 2024
Peak: 1986 (307 births)
Joshua: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Joshua span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 399,091 babies were registered. Joshua has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Joshua by Decade
How has Joshua tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 465 | 465 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 287 | 287 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 243 | 243 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 926 | 926 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 1,143 | 1,143 | 0 | |
| 1930s | 948 | 948 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 1,156 | 1,156 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 2,222 | 2,222 | 0 | |
| 1960s | 5,339 | 5,326 | 13 | |
| 1970s | 141,126 | 140,325 | 801 | |
| 1980s | 399,091 | 396,530 | 2,561 | |
| 1990s | 330,115 | 329,184 | 931 | |
| 2000s | 232,512 | 232,037 | 475 | |
| 2010s | 106,372 | 106,229 | 143 | |
| 2020s | 27,067 | 27,038 | 29 | |
Joshua by State
Birth registrations for Joshua span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska. On average, about 24,386 Joshuas were registered per state.
Joshua + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Joshua as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Joshua
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
Joshua: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joshua?
We estimate approximately 1,203,779 people named Joshua are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 285 Americans share this first name.
Is Joshua a common name?
Joshua is classified as "Very Common" and is more popular than 100% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,249,012 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Joshua most popular?
Joshua reached peak popularity in 1989, when 44,307 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Joshua is approximately 33 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Joshua a male name?
Joshua is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Joshua Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Joshua Smith, Joshua Johnson, Joshua Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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