Jehoshua
Of Hebrew origin, meaning "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh saves".
Name Census estimates that about 13 living Americans carry the first name Jehoshua. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jehoshua today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jehoshua births was 1980 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jehoshua. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jehoshua. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
13
~ 1 in 26,365,718 Americans
Peak year
1980
7 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1988 SSA rank
#6,065
Tracked since 1980
Popularity
Jehoshua: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Jehoshua by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jehoshua during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 14 | 0 | 14 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Jehoshua
The given name Jehoshua is derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh saves." This name finds its origins in ancient Hebrew culture and the biblical texts of the Old Testament.
The name Jehoshua is a variant of the more commonly known name Joshua, which is the anglicized form of the Hebrew name. The earliest recorded use of this name dates back to the biblical figure Joshua, who was the successor of Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land after their exodus from Egypt, as documented in the Book of Joshua.
In the New Testament, the name Jehoshua is associated with Jesus Christ, whose name in Hebrew is Yeshua, which is a shortened form of Yehoshua. This name holds significant religious and spiritual significance in Christianity, as Jesus is considered the Messiah and the savior of mankind.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jehoshua or its variants. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Joshua ben Hananiah, a Jewish scholar and sage who lived in the 1st century CE and was a prominent figure in the development of rabbinic Judaism.
Another significant figure was Joshua the Stylite, a Syrian monk who lived in the 5th century CE and is renowned for his chronicles of the Byzantine-Persian wars during his lifetime. His writings provide valuable insights into the historical events of that era.
In the 16th century, Joshua Falk ben Alexander ha-Kohen Katz, a renowned rabbi and Talmudic scholar, made significant contributions to Jewish law and authored several influential works, such as the Semah Tsedek.
Joshua Sylvester, an English poet and translator who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, is known for his translations of works by French poets, including Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas' Divine Weeks and Works.
In the field of science, Joshua Lederberg, an American molecular biologist, is notable for his pioneering work in genetics and bacterial conjugation. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958 for his discoveries concerning genetic recombination and the organization of the genetic material of bacteria.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Jehoshua or its variants, highlighting the rich cultural and historical significance of this name across various disciplines and time periods.
People
Jehoshua + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jehoshua as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jehoshua: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jehoshua?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jehoshua going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 26,365,718 US residents.
Is Jehoshua a common name?
We classify Jehoshua as "Very Rare". It ranks above 33.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jehoshua most popular?
The single biggest year for Jehoshua was 1980, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jehoshua is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jehoshua in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jehoshua a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jehoshua in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jehoshua still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jehoshua in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jehoshua can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Jehoshua?
Find out how many Americans are named Jehoshua on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.