Josaiah
A masculine name derived from a Biblical Hebrew name meaning "God has healed".
Name Census estimates that about 424 living Americans carry the first name Josaiah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Josaiah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josaiah births was 2008 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josaiah. 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.
People living today
424
~ 1 in 808,383 Americans
Peak year
2008
25 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,324
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Josaiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josaiah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 169 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Josaiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josaiah 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 Josaiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josaiahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Josaiah
The name Josaiah is a combination of two Hebrew names - Josiah and Yahweh. It originated in ancient Israel, likely during the period of the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. The first part of the name, "Josi," is derived from the Hebrew name Yoshiyahu, meaning "Yahweh is salvation." The second part, "ah," is a shortened form of the name Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Josaiah can be found in the Book of Ezra, a book in the Hebrew Bible. In Ezra 8:10, a man named Josaiah is mentioned as one of the descendants of Bani who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon with Ezra the scribe.
In the 17th century, Josaiah was occasionally used as a given name among Puritans in England and later in the American colonies. One notable figure with this name was Josaiah Willard (1670-1698), an early American minister and writer from Massachusetts.
Another prominent individual named Josaiah was Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), the English potter and founder of the Wedgwood company. Although his name was spelled slightly differently, it is believed to have the same Hebrew origins as Josaiah.
In the 19th century, Josaiah Quincy (1772-1864) was a prominent American politician and diplomat who served as the sixth President of Harvard University. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Mayor of Boston.
In more recent times, Josaiah Tincup (1901-1962) was a renowned Navajo artist and painter known for his depictions of Native American life and culture. His works are displayed in various museums and galleries across the United States.
While the name Josaiah has its roots in ancient Hebrew and biblical times, it has been used throughout history in various cultures and contexts, often as a variant of the more common name Josiah.
People
Josaiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josaiah 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
Josaiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josaiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 424 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josaiah 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 808,383 US residents.
Is Josaiah a common name?
We classify Josaiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 428 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josaiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Josaiah was 2008, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josaiah is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Josaiah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josaiah 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.
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.