Jossue
A Hebrew name meaning "Jehovah is salvation" or "the Lord is salvation."
Name Census estimates that about 670 living Americans carry the first name Jossue. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jossue today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jossue births was 2006 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jossue. 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
670
~ 1 in 511,574 Americans
Peak year
2006
30 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,326
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Jossue: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jossue 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 248 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
Jossue 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 Jossue during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jossues live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jossue
The name Jossue originated from the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "God is salvation." It is a variant spelling of the more commonly known name Joshua, which has its roots in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. The name Jossue can be traced back to around the 13th century BCE, during the time of the Israelites' conquest of Canaan.
Jossue is the name of an important biblical figure, the successor of Moses, who led the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan. He is mentioned extensively in the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible, which recounts his military campaigns and the division of the land among the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The name Jossue has been used by various religious groups throughout history, particularly among Christians and Jews.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jossue can be found in the Codex Gigas, also known as the Devil's Bible, which is a 13th-century manuscript created by a single monk in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). The name Jossue appears in this manuscript, although the details surrounding its use are uncertain.
Another notable bearer of the name Jossue was Jossue le Sachier (c. 1230-1286), a French composer and trouvère from Arras, who was active during the 13th century. He is known for his contributions to the secular music of the time.
In the 16th century, Jossue Mermet (c. 1530-1594) was a French Protestant pastor and theologian who played a significant role in the Reformation movement in France. He was a prominent figure in the Huguenot community and wrote several works defending Protestantism.
Another notable figure with the name Jossue was Jossue Huillier (c. 1512-1572), a French Protestant pastor and theologian who also played an important role in the French Reformation. He was a colleague of John Calvin and served as a minister in various Reformed churches in France.
In the 18th century, Jossue Richter (1762-1825) was a German astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of comets and the calculation of their orbits. He is particularly known for his work on the comet of 1807, which became known as Comet Richter.
People
Jossue + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jossue 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
Jossue: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jossue?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 670 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jossue 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 511,574 US residents.
Is Jossue a common name?
We classify Jossue as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 682 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jossue most popular?
The single biggest year for Jossue was 2006, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jossue is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jossue a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jossue 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.