Joshua

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Josue in BR Brazil, HN Honduras, MX Mexico and 8 more and Josua in ID Indonesia, ZA South Africa.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Joshua is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name138K records spelled Joshua3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Joshūā, Jóshua

• Indonesian given name34K records spelled Joshua4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Joshua, Jöshûà

• Polish given name29K records spelled Joshua41 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Czechia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Polish, Russian, Czech

  Also written Джошуа, Dzhoshua, Йошуа, Yoshua, Иошуа

• Thai given name12K records spelled Joshua26 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, United States, Laos, Philippines

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written โจชัว, โจ่ซิว, โยชูวา, โจซิว, โจซัว

86 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Joshua is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• The name Joshua is a timeless biblical name meaning 'Yahweh is salvation.' It conveys strength, leadership, and faithfulness, borne by two significant Old Testament figures: Joshua, Moses' successor who led Israel into the Promised Land, and Joshua the High Priest, who was instrumental in rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Joshua is a classic biblical name of Hebrew origin meaning 'Yahweh is salvation.' It is famously associated with Moses's successor who led Israel into the Promised Land, but it also appears in the genealogy of Jesus, giving the name deep historical and spiritual roots.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Joshua, meaning 'God is salvation,' is associated with the revered High Priest who led the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. It carries connotations of spiritual leadership, restoration, and divine deliverance.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Joshua is the English form of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, meaning "Yahweh is salvation." The Greek equivalent is Iēsous, from which the name Jesus is derived.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name Joshua, or its later form Jeshua (Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁוּעַ, Yəhōšūaʿ or יֵשׁוּעַ, Yēšūaʿ), means "Yahweh is salvation" or "The Lord saves".

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Joshua Reynoldsb. 1723GBEnglish painter (1723–1792)
• Stephen Sondheimb. 1930USnot in their usual nameAmerican composer and lyricist (1930–2021)
• Joshua Jacksonb. 1978CACanadian actor
• Josh Keatonb. 1979USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
• Josh Gadb. 1981USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor (born 1981)
• Josh Peckb. 1986USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor and comedian (born 1986)
• Josh O'Connorb. 1990GBnot in their usual nameBritish actor (born 1990)
• Josh Hutchersonb. 1992USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor
• Joshua Kimmichb. 1995DEGerman association football player (born 1995)
• Joshua Bassettb. 2000USAmerican actor and singer-songwriter

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,548 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Joshua?

We estimate roughly 1.3 million people bear Joshua (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Joshua have the most bearers?

We estimate about 938 thousand people bear Joshua in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled joshua.

Where is Joshua most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Joshua is densest in Honduras — about 1 in 60 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Joshua compared with other names?

In the United States, Joshua is the 89th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Joshua a male or female name?

Joshua is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Joshua mean?

Recorded meaning: The name Joshua comes from the Hebrew name "Yehoshua," meaning "God is deliverance" or "Yahweh is salvation."