Joshue
Hebrew name meaning "God is salvation" or "God is deliverance".
Name Census estimates that about 1,081 living Americans carry the first name Joshue. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Joshue today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joshue births was 2004 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joshue. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 317,072 Americans
Peak year
2004
45 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,568
Tracked since 1971
Census
Joshue in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 853 people with the first name Joshue, which placed it at #13,969 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
#13,969
National first-name rank
People counted
853
853 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joshue
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joshue is Hispanic at 67.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.3%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Joshue 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 Joshue at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.6% · 577
- White22.3% · 190
- Black or African American7.5% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 10
- Two or more races1.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Joshue: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joshue from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 306 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
Joshue 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 Joshue during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joshues live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Joshue, while Ohio, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 61 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joshue
The given name Joshue has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh saves." The name can be traced back to ancient times, with its earliest known usage dating back to the biblical period.
Joshue is a variant spelling of the more common English form, Joshua. This name appears prominently in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it is borne by Joshua, the successor of Moses and the leader who led the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan. The Book of Joshua, one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, chronicles the life and accomplishments of this historical figure.
In ancient times, the name Joshue was primarily used among Hebrew and Israelite communities. As the name spread to other parts of the world, it underwent various spelling and pronunciation changes. For example, in Greek, it was rendered as Iēsous, which later influenced the Latin form, Iesus, and eventually the English name Jesus.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Joshue can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Hebrew manuscripts dating back to the third century BCE. These scrolls contain numerous references to individuals bearing the name Yehoshua or its variants.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Joshue. One of the most famous is Joshue Barnes (1654-1712), an English scholar and writer who served as a bishop of Norwich and Ely. Another notable individual was Joshue Sylvester (1563-1618), an English poet and translator who is best known for his translation of the French poet Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas' divine poem "La Semaine."
In the realm of religion, Joshue Davidson (1696-1778) was an influential Scottish Presbyterian minister and author, while Joshue Browning (1639-1691) was an English Puritan minister and writer. Additionally, Joshue Pratt (1658-1699) was an English Whig politician who served as a member of parliament.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Joshue throughout history. While the spelling and pronunciation may have evolved over time, the name's Hebrew roots and biblical significance have endured, making it a timeless and meaningful choice for parents across various cultures and traditions.
People
Joshue + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joshue 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
Joshue: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joshue?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,081 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joshue 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 317,072 US residents.
Is Joshue a common name?
We classify Joshue as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joshue most popular?
The single biggest year for Joshue was 2004, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joshue is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joshue in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 853 people with the name Joshue, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,969 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 Joshue 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 Joshue?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joshue appears almost entirely male. Of the 854 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Joshue?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joshue is Hispanic at 67.6%. The next largest groups are White (22.3%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Joshue most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Joshue in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.6% (577 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 Joshue in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joshue a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joshue 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 Joshue still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joshue 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 Joshue 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 have Joshue as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.