Joshawn
Of uncertain origin and meaning, a modern invented name possibly blending elements of Joshua and Shawn.
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the first name Joshawn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Joshawn today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joshawn births was 2002 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joshawn. 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
139
~ 1 in 2,465,859 Americans
Peak year
2002
9 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,566
Tracked since 1988
Census
Joshawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 147 people with the first name Joshawn, which placed it at #45,869 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
#45,869
National first-name rank
People counted
147
147 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joshawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joshawn is Black at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Joshawn 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 Joshawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.3% · 118
- Two or more races6.1% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.1% · 6
- White3.4% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 3
Popularity
Joshawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joshawn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joshawn 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 Joshawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joshawn
The given name Joshawn is a relatively modern name that appears to have emerged in the 20th century. Its origins are unclear, but it is likely a combination of the more common names Joshua and Shawn, which have distinct roots and histories.
Joshua is a Hebrew name derived from the biblical figure Joshua, the successor of Moses who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. The name means "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh is deliverance." It has been in use since ancient times and has remained popular in various cultures and religions.
Shawn, on the other hand, is an anglicized version of the Irish name Seán, which is derived from the Hebrew name John, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." The name has been in use in Ireland for centuries and gained popularity in other English-speaking countries.
The combination of these two names, Joshawn, appears to be a modern invention, possibly created in the United States or other English-speaking countries. While there are no known historical references or ancient texts mentioning the name Joshawn specifically, its components have rich histories and cultural significance.
As for notable individuals named Joshawn, here are a few examples:
1. Joshawn Arrington, an American football player who played as a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) during the early 2000s.
2. Joshawn Singleton, an American basketball player who played for various teams in the NBA G League (formerly known as the NBA Development League) in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
3. Joshawn Jeffery, an American football player who played as a defensive back for several teams in the Arena Football League (AFL) in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
4. Joshawn Johnson, an American football player who played as a wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League (CFL) in the early 2010s.
5. Joshawn Payne, an American football player who played as a defensive back for various teams in the Indoor Football League (IFL) and other indoor football leagues in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
It's worth noting that due to the relatively recent emergence of the name Joshawn, there may be limited historical records and information available compared to more established and ancient names.
People
Joshawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joshawn 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
Joshawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joshawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 139 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joshawn 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 2,465,859 US residents.
Is Joshawn a common name?
We classify Joshawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joshawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Joshawn was 2002, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joshawn is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joshawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 147 people with the name Joshawn, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,869 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 Joshawn 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 Joshawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joshawn leans strongly male. 132 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 5 female bearers (3.6%). 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 Joshawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joshawn is Black at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Joshawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Joshawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (118 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 Joshawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joshawn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joshawn 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 Joshawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joshawn 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 Joshawn 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 people are called Joshawn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.