Joab
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is father."
Name Census estimates that about 923 living Americans carry the first name Joab. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Joab today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joab births was 2024 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joab. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Joab with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
923
~ 1 in 371,348 Americans
Peak year
2024
45 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,845
Tracked since 1965
Census
Joab in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 844 people with the first name Joab, which placed it at #14,072 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,072
National first-name rank
People counted
844
844 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joab
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joab is Hispanic at 57.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.3%) and Black (13.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Joab described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Joab at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.8% · 488
- White22.3% · 188
- Black or African American13.4% · 113
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 32
- Two or more races2.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Joab: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joab from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 267 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Joab remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joab 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 Joab during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joabs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Joab, while New York, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joab
The name Joab originated from the Hebrew language and culture, with its roots tracing back to ancient biblical times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "yo'av," which means "Yahweh is father" or "fathered by Yahweh."
One of the earliest and most prominent references to the name Joab can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible. Joab was a prominent figure in the life of King David, serving as the commander of David's army. He played a crucial role in several significant events, including the conquest of Jerusalem and the civil war between David's forces and those of Ishbosheth.
In the historical records, Joab is depicted as a skilled and ruthless military leader, often acting on his own accord and even disobeying the king's orders at times. His actions were sometimes controversial, such as his involvement in the murder of Abner and the execution of Absalom, David's son.
Beyond the biblical accounts, the name Joab has been present throughout various eras and cultures. One notable figure was Joab Cohen, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey). He was renowned for his contributions to the study of the Kabbalah and his writings on Jewish mysticism.
Another historical figure bearing the name Joab was Joab Bampton, an English clergyman and scholar who lived in the late 17th century and early 18th century. He was known for his philanthropic works and for founding the Bampton Lectures, a series of annual sermons at the University of Oxford.
In the 19th century, Joab Spencer was an American educator and Baptist minister. He played a significant role in the establishment of several educational institutions, including the Collegiate Institute in Woodstock, Vermont, and the Columbian College (now George Washington University) in Washington, D.C.
Another notable bearer of the name was Joab Gilkey, an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina in the late 19th century.
While the name Joab has its roots in Hebrew and biblical origins, it has transcended cultural and religious boundaries, appearing in various contexts throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance.
People
Joab + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joab 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
Joab: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joab?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 923 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joab 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 371,348 US residents.
Is Joab a common name?
We classify Joab as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 940 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joab most popular?
The single biggest year for Joab was 2024, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joab is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joab in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 844 people with the name Joab, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,072 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Joab in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Joab?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joab appears almost entirely male. Of the 840 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Joab?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joab is Hispanic at 57.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.3%) and Black (13.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Joab most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Joab in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.8% (488 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Joab in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joab a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joab 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 Joab still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joab 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 Joab 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.
How common is the name Joab?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.