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Josh

boy name
Origin
Filipino
Syllables
1
Peak era
1970s/2020s
Today
▬ Steady

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Meaning

“God is salvation (short form of Joshua, common casual name)”

The story

Read the story of Joshua →

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The formal names behind Josh

Josh is an established short form of this name.

Joshua · Hebrew origin · God is salvation

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

Josh's name family

One shared root links 4 names across 2 languages.

Shared root: from Hebrew Yehoshua "Yahweh is salvation"; Jesus continues the same name through its contracted late-Hebrew form Yeshua

The constellation

JoshEnglish · short formJoshuaEnglishJosueSpanishJesusSpanish

How popular is Josh around the world?

In the United States, 568 babies were named Josh between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 25 boys named Josh were born in 2025, the 188th most common name among boys that year.

Josh is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, England and Wales, South Australia, Mexico City, France, Brazil and Spain.

United States

1 in 38,000

In the United States, 568 babies were named Josh between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 1970s2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Josh peaked in the 1970s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Josh has stayed between 568 and 4,011 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Ireland

1 in 2,200

In Ireland, 25 boys named Josh were born in 2025, the 188th most common name among boys that year.

1980peak 20052025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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Scotland

1 in 2,400

In Scotland, 19 boys named Josh were registered in 2024, the 218th most common name among boys that year.

1974peak 20022024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

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Canada

1 in 9,900

In Canada, 37 boys named Josh were born in 2024, the 720th most common name among boys that year.

1991peak 20032024

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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England and Wales

1 in 13,000

In England and Wales, 45 boys named Josh were born in 2025, the 758th most common name among boys that year.

peak 20022025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

South Australia

1 in 18,000 · 2017

In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Josh in 2017.

1970peak 19972017

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Mexico City City

1 in 59,000

In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Josh in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

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France

1 in 64,000

In France, about 10 boys named Josh were born in 2025, ranked 2,212th among boys that year.

1990peak 20152025

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Brazil

1 in 1M

At the 2022 census, 264 people in Brazil were named Josh, ranked 20,873rd, with a median age of 4.
Among people named Josh living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.

2000speak 2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 129 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Spain

1 in 1.1M

In Spain, 41 residents are named Josh, ranked 17,101st among men, with a mean age of 20.4 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Argentina

last on record 2017

Josh is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Austria

last on record 2023

Josh is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

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New Zealand

last on record 2016

Josh is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.

1980peak 20002025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

Poland

last on record 2015

Josh is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

See the full list for Poland →

Puerto Rico

last on record 2007

Josh is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 28 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)

See the full list for Puerto Rico →

Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Josh

Most people given the name Josh in the United States were born between 1970 and 2009. The Josh you meet today is most often in his 30s or 40s.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Josh

Davi Adam Ivan Jesus Adan Marcos

Keep exploring

Filipino baby names · Short names · Familiar but never popular

Name trails: explore connections from Josh →

The Josh deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Josh truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Josh fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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