Joah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has been gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 1,155 living Americans carry the first name Joah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Joah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joah births was 2023 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joah. 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 Joah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Joah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 296,757 Americans
Peak year
2023
79 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,101
Tracked since 1977
Census
Joah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 971 people with the first name Joah, which placed it at #12,711 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
#12,711
National first-name rank
People counted
971
971 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joah is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.3%) and Black (12.8%). 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 Joah 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 Joah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 538
- Hispanic or Latino18.3% · 178
- Black or African American12.8% · 124
- Two or more races7.6% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 15
Popularity
Joah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 487 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Joah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joah 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 Joah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Joah, while New York, North Carolina, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joah
The given name Joah has its origins in Hebrew culture, tracing back to ancient biblical times. It is derived from the Hebrew name Yoah, which is a variant spelling of Yoachaz, meaning "Yahweh is strong" or "Yahweh has grasped." The name is comprised of the elements "Yo" (a shortened form of the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh) and "achaz" (meaning "to grasp" or "to seize").
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Joah can be found in the Book of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a son of Ahaz, a king of Judah who reigned in the 8th century BCE. The name also appears in various ancient Hebrew texts and manuscripts, suggesting its use among ancient Israelites.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Joah. One of the earliest recorded was Joah, a Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in the 12th century CE in Spain. He was known for his contributions to the study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.
Another prominent figure was Joah ben Abraham, a renowned Jewish physician and philosopher who lived in the 13th century CE in Spain. He was recognized for his expertise in medicine and his writings on various subjects, including logic and ethics.
In the 17th century, Joah Byles was an English clergyman and author who served as the rector of Cripplegate Church in London. He is best known for his published sermons and religious writings.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Joah Wilkinson was a British architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the former Royal Mint building on Tower Hill.
In the early 20th century, Joah Reinach was a French historian and archaeologist who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. He authored numerous books and articles on various aspects of classical antiquity.
These examples illustrate the enduring use of the name Joah across different cultures and time periods, reflecting its biblical and historical roots. While not as common as some other names, Joah has maintained a presence throughout history, carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions.
People
Joah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joah 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
Joah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,155 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joah 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 296,757 US residents.
Is Joah a common name?
We classify Joah as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,167 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joah most popular?
The single biggest year for Joah was 2023, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 971 people with the name Joah, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,711 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 Joah 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 Joah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joah leans strongly male. 878 people counted with this name were male (90.3%), compared with 94 female bearers (9.7%). 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 Joah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joah is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.3%) and Black (12.8%). 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 Joah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Joah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (538 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 Joah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joah 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 Joah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joah 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 Joah 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 many Americans are named Joah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.