Josuha
A Hebrew name meaning "God is salvation" or "Yahweh is salvation".
Name Census estimates that about 269 living Americans carry the first name Josuha. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Josuha today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josuha births was 1985 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josuha. 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 Josuha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
269
~ 1 in 1,274,180 Americans
Peak year
1985
23 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2008 SSA rank
#13,532
Tracked since 1974
Census
Josuha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 329 people with the first name Josuha, which placed it at #27,678 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
#27,678
National first-name rank
People counted
329
329 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Josuha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josuha is White at 55.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.7%) 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 Josuha 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 Josuha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.3% · 182
- Hispanic or Latino23.7% · 78
- Black or African American12.8% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 13
- Two or more races2.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 5
Popularity
Josuha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josuha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 144 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josuha 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 Josuha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josuhas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Josuha
The name Josuha is derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh saves." It is a variation of the more common English name Joshua. The name has its roots in ancient Israel and can be traced back to Biblical times.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name is found in the Hebrew Bible, where Joshua (Yehoshua) was a prominent figure who succeeded Moses as the leader of the Israelites. He is credited with leading the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan and conquering various cities and territories.
The name Josuha has been used throughout history by individuals of various faiths and cultures. In the early Christian era, there are records of saints and martyrs bearing the name, such as St. Josuha of Tela, who lived in the 4th century CE and was a hermit in Syria.
During the Middle Ages, the name was popular among Christian communities in Europe. One notable figure was Josuha the Stylite, a 6th-century Byzantine monk and ascetic who lived on a pillar near Constantinople for over 30 years.
In the Renaissance period, Josuha Reichert (1637-1699) was a German theologian and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of ethics and moral philosophy.
Moving to the 19th century, Josuha Chamberlain (1828-1914) was a British academic and linguist who played a crucial role in the establishment of the University of Birmingham in England.
Another notable figure was Josuha Norton (1819-1892), an American soldier and lawyer who served as a general during the American Civil War and later became a prominent legal scholar and writer.
While the name Josuha is not as common as its more widely used counterpart Joshua, it has maintained a presence throughout history and has been borne by individuals from various cultural and religious backgrounds.
People
Josuha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josuha 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
Josuha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josuha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 269 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josuha 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 1,274,180 US residents.
Is Josuha a common name?
We classify Josuha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josuha most popular?
The single biggest year for Josuha was 1985, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josuha is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Josuha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 329 people with the name Josuha, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,678 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 Josuha 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 Josuha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Josuha appears almost entirely male. Of the 329 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Josuha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josuha is White at 55.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.7%) 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 Josuha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Josuha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.3% (182 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 Josuha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Josuha a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josuha 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 Josuha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Josuha 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 Josuha 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 named Josuha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.