Meaning not yet researched.
Josh: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 96 in 2025. Its best rank was #300 in 1880.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #300 in 1880; #1,703 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Josh in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,703 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1880, at #300.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Josh: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 96 boys in 2025. Peak: #300 in 1880 · most boys in one year: 531 (1979).
In 2025, 96 US boys were named Josh, making it the 1,703rd most common boys’ name of the year, up 41 places from #1,744 in 2024. That is 1 more than the 95 boys named Josh in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #300, reached in 1880. The most boys given the name in a single year was 531, in 1979. For comparison, it was #1,401 in 2015 and #1,150 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Josh in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 31 babies with the name. In all, 17,288 US babies have been given the name, all of them boys. Its busiest decade was the 1970s, with 4,011 babies named Josh.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,021 US boys were named Josh; the busiest of those years was 2017, with 129. In 2025 that was about 1 in 17,792 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Josh ranked highest in Massachusetts in 2025, at #845 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Joshua (1,253,882 babies since 1880) and Jose (596,732 babies since 1880).
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Josh in the open dataset we use.
Josh is listed as a nickname for Joshua.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 45 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 5 | #845 | — |
| Florida | 17 | #865 | #1,229 |
| New Jersey | 7 | #871 | — |
| New York | 10 | #1,168 | #784 |
| Texas | 10 | #1,702 | #1,500 |
| California | 6 | #2,328 | #1,139 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 96 | #1,703 |
| 2024 | — | — | 95 | #1,744 |
| 2023 | — | — | 89 | #1,809 |
| 2022 | — | — | 94 | #1,765 |
| 2021 | — | — | 100 | #1,660 |
| 2020 | — | — | 94 | #1,682 |
| 2019 | — | — | 103 | #1,609 |
| 2018 | — | — | 113 | #1,515 |
| 2017 | — | — | 129 | #1,374 |
| 2016 | — | — | 108 | #1,543 |
| 2015 | — | — | 123 | #1,401 |
| 2014 | — | — | 166 | #1,144 |
| 2013 | — | — | 152 | #1,183 |
| 2012 | — | — | 167 | #1,109 |
| 2011 | — | — | 180 | #1,052 |
| 2010 | — | — | 178 | #1,083 |
| 2009 | — | — | 205 | #976 |
| 2008 | — | — | 271 | #810 |
| 2007 | — | — | 316 | #726 |
| 2006 | — | — | 302 | #715 |
| 2005 | — | — | 266 | #751 |
| 2004 | — | — | 308 | #663 |
| 2003 | — | — | 273 | #698 |
| 2002 | — | — | 274 | #676 |
| 2001 | — | — | 246 | #716 |
| 2000 | — | — | 195 | #822 |
| 1999 | — | — | 194 | #793 |
| 1998 | — | — | 166 | #876 |
| 1997 | — | — | 189 | #784 |
| 1996 | — | — | 166 | #845 |
| 1995 | — | — | 183 | #794 |
| 1994 | — | — | 169 | #815 |
| 1993 | — | — | 186 | #768 |
| 1992 | — | — | 181 | #776 |
| 1991 | — | — | 181 | #759 |
| 1990 | — | — | 212 | #700 |
| 1989 | — | — | 213 | #684 |
| 1988 | — | — | 240 | #612 |
| 1987 | — | — | 233 | #593 |
| 1986 | — | — | 220 | #601 |
| 1985 | — | — | 248 | #561 |
| 1984 | — | — | 259 | #535 |
| 1983 | — | — | 299 | #487 |
| 1982 | — | — | 298 | #492 |
| 1981 | — | — | 347 | #442 |
| 1980 | — | — | 461 | #371 |
| 1979 | — | — | 531 | #339 |
| 1978 | — | — | 431 | #371 |
| 1977 | — | — | 383 | #399 |
| 1976 | — | — | 387 | #393 |
| 1975 | — | — | 456 | #362 |
| 1974 | — | — | 493 | #345 |
| 1973 | — | — | 401 | #387 |
| 1972 | — | — | 356 | #420 |
| 1971 | — | — | 325 | #450 |
| 1970 | — | — | 248 | #511 |
| 1969 | — | — | 193 | #564 |
| 1968 | — | — | 135 | #652 |
| 1967 | — | — | 105 | #723 |
| 1966 | — | — | 101 | #735 |
| 1965 | — | — | 105 | #728 |
| 1964 | — | — | 95 | #775 |
| 1963 | — | — | 115 | #730 |
| 1962 | — | — | 102 | #758 |
| 1961 | — | — | 132 | #675 |
| 1960 | — | — | 129 | #693 |
| 1959 | — | — | 128 | #676 |
| 1958 | — | — | 69 | #911 |
| 1957 | — | — | 53 | #1,046 |
| 1956 | — | — | 53 | #1,038 |
| 1955 | — | — | 50 | #1,071 |
| 1954 | — | — | 51 | #1,049 |
| 1953 | — | — | 58 | #942 |
| 1952 | — | — | 54 | #975 |
| 1951 | — | — | 41 | #1,128 |
| 1950 | — | — | 39 | #1,150 |
| 1949 | — | — | 46 | #1,039 |
| 1948 | — | — | 45 | #1,056 |
| 1947 | — | — | 40 | #1,156 |
| 1946 | — | — | 43 | #1,051 |
| 1945 | — | — | 34 | #1,135 |
| 1944 | — | — | 35 | #1,127 |
| 1943 | — | — | 25 | #1,418 |
| 1942 | — | — | 31 | #1,262 |
| 1941 | — | — | 31 | #1,201 |
| 1940 | — | — | 31 | #1,220 |
| 1939 | — | — | 32 | #1,156 |
| 1938 | — | — | 33 | #1,138 |
| 1937 | — | — | 38 | #1,045 |
| 1936 | — | — | 44 | #933 |
| 1935 | — | — | 34 | #1,133 |
| 1934 | — | — | 39 | #1,050 |
| 1933 | — | — | 30 | #1,214 |
| 1932 | — | — | 40 | #1,068 |
| 1931 | — | — | 30 | #1,267 |
| 1930 | — | — | 28 | #1,378 |
| 1929 | — | — | 36 | #1,166 |
| 1928 | — | — | 44 | #1,050 |
| 1927 | — | — | 41 | #1,120 |
| 1926 | — | — | 46 | #1,026 |
| 1925 | — | — | 45 | #1,033 |
| 1924 | — | — | 47 | #1,040 |
| 1923 | — | — | 49 | #1,003 |
| 1922 | — | — | 50 | #1,007 |
| 1921 | — | — | 36 | #1,214 |
| 1920 | — | — | 45 | #1,043 |
| 1919 | — | — | 41 | #1,069 |
| 1918 | — | — | 49 | #955 |
| 1917 | — | — | 42 | #1,009 |
| 1916 | — | — | 55 | #848 |
| 1915 | — | — | 40 | #1,006 |
| 1914 | — | — | 39 | #874 |
| 1913 | — | — | 37 | #784 |
| 1912 | — | — | 39 | #685 |
| 1911 | — | — | 30 | #554 |
| 1910 | — | — | 23 | #610 |
| 1909 | — | — | 21 | #584 |
| 1908 | — | — | 26 | #495 |
| 1907 | — | — | 19 | #574 |
| 1906 | — | — | 13 | #694 |
| 1905 | — | — | 17 | #580 |
| 1904 | — | — | 18 | #527 |
| 1903 | — | — | 21 | #458 |
| 1902 | — | — | 17 | #529 |
| 1901 | — | — | 18 | #460 |
| 1900 | — | — | 25 | #461 |
| 1899 | — | — | 17 | #467 |
| 1898 | — | — | 22 | #424 |
| 1897 | — | — | 21 | #418 |
| 1896 | — | — | 23 | #412 |
| 1895 | — | — | 27 | #364 |
| 1894 | — | — | 18 | #473 |
| 1893 | — | — | 16 | #471 |
| 1892 | — | — | 22 | #408 |
| 1891 | — | — | 19 | #404 |
| 1890 | — | — | 24 | #364 |
| 1889 | — | — | 22 | #385 |
| 1888 | — | — | 24 | #381 |
| 1887 | — | — | 15 | #443 |
| 1886 | — | — | 29 | #317 |
| 1885 | — | — | 23 | #371 |
| 1884 | — | — | 27 | #341 |
| 1883 | — | — | 27 | #321 |
| 1882 | — | — | 14 | #504 |
| 1881 | — | — | 22 | #356 |
| 1880 | — | — | 31 | #300 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).