Josh
Josh is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 95 births. Its best rank was 300th, in 1880.
- Rank in 2024
- —outside the top 1,000
- Births in 2024
- 950.01% of boys
- Peak year
- 1979531 births
- Best rank
- #300in 1880
- Since 1880
- 17,193people given the name
The story in the numbers
17,193 boys have been named Josh in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1979, with 531 births.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1981, and the 1970s alone account for 23%. It has spent 92 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Josh | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 234 | |
| 1890s | 209 | |
| 1900s | 195 | |
| 1910s | 395 | |
| 1920s | 439 | |
| 1930s | 348 | |
| 1940s | 361 | |
| 1950s | 597 | |
| 1960s | 1,212 | |
| 1970s | 4,012 | |
| 1980s | 2,819 | |
| 1990s | 1,827 | |
| 2000s | 2,656 | |
| 2010s | 1,417 | |
| 2020s | 472 |
In 1979, its biggest year
Josh was the 339th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1979 were Michael, Christopher, Jason, David and James. See all of 1979.
Names that rose and fell with Josh
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Hanspeak 1970
- Jessepeak 1981
- Jeffersonpeak 2009
- Chaunceypeak 1981
- Samuelpeak 2001
- Jenspeak 1966
- Mathewpeak 1990
- Claypeak 1960
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.