Moshe
Torn between Moshe and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
form of Moses, traditionally "drawn out of water"
The story
Moshe is Moses as Hebrew has always said it, and the name arrives with its origin story built in: in Exodus, Pharaoh's daughter names the child with a play on the Hebrew for drawing out, "I drew him out of the water." Scholars add, carefully, that the form may also echo an Egyptian element meaning son, the one inside royal names like Thutmose; the wordplay and the scholarship share the name without friction. Jewish tradition produced the definitive compliment. On the tomb of Maimonides in Tiberias, the philosopher born Moshe ben Maimon in Córdoba, the inscription reads: "From Moses to Moses arose none like Moses." One name at both ends of the sentence, many centuries apart, and the comparison still felt necessary. Modern bearers range from Moshe Dayan to the architect Moshe Safdie. The living Hebrew form stands beside English Moses, and concedes nothing.
On record since at least the 12th century: Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides).
How popular is Moshe around the world?
In the United States, 3,836 babies were named Moshe between 2020 and 2025.
Moshe is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Canada, Mexico City, Argentina, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,700
In the United States, 3,836 babies were named Moshe between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Moshe peaked in the 2020s. In US birth records Moshe has stayed between 343 and 5,162 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
England and Wales
1 in 11,000
In England and Wales, 52 boys named Moshe were born in 2025, the 687th most common name among boys that year.
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
Canada
1 in 17,000
In Canada, 22 boys named Moshe were born in 2024, ranked 1,105th among boys that year.
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)
Mexico City City
1 in 24,000
In Mexico City, there were 5 registrations of Moshe in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
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
Argentina
1 in 41,000
In Argentina, 16 newborns were given the name Moshe in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Spain
1 in 1.5M
In Spain, 29 residents are named Moshe, ranked 22,719th among men, with a mean age of 45.7 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
Austria
last on record 2024
Moshe 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 3 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)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 69 people in Brazil were named Moshe, ranked 53,441st, with a median age of 25.
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
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Moshe is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Poland
last on record 2016
Moshe 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 2 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)
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: 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.
When you meet Moshe
Most people given the name Moshe in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Moshe deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Moshe 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 Moshe fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Moshe fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Moshe to your family’s tree →