Moishe
A masculine name of Hebrew origin derived from Moses.
Name Census estimates that about 1,127 living Americans carry the first name Moishe. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Moishe today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moishe births was 2015 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moishe. 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 304,130 Americans
Peak year
2015
38 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,739
Tracked since 1950
Popularity
Moishe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moishe from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 259 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moishe remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moishe 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 Moishe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moishes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Moishe
The name Moishe is a Yiddish variant of the Hebrew name Moshe, which is derived from the Hebrew root meaning "to draw out" or "to pull out." This name is most famously associated with Moses, the Biblical prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments from God.
The name Moishe has its origins in Eastern Europe, where it was commonly used among Ashkenazi Jewish communities. It first appeared in written records around the 12th century, when the Yiddish language began to develop and spread among Jewish communities in the Rhineland region of Germany.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Moishe was Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides, a renowned Jewish philosopher, and scholar who lived in Spain and Egypt from 1135 to 1204. He is best known for his influential work, the Mishneh Torah, a codification of Jewish law.
Another notable figure in history bearing the name Moishe was Moshe Idel, a leading scholar of Jewish mysticism who lived from 1947 to 2022. He made significant contributions to the study of Kabbalah and influenced the development of modern Jewish thought.
In the field of literature, Moishe Nadir, a Yiddish writer, and poet who lived from 1885 to 1943, is remembered for his works that captured the life and struggles of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe during the early 20th century.
Moving into the realm of politics, Moishe Dayan, an Israeli military leader and politician, played a pivotal role in several major conflicts, including the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Six-Day War in 1967. He served as Israel's Defense Minister from 1967 to 1974 and was known for his iconic eye patch.
Lastly, Moishe Oysher, a celebrated Yiddish-language actor and singer who lived from 1888 to 1958, made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Yiddish culture through his performances on stage and in films.
People
Moishe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moishe as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Moishe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moishe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,127 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moishe 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 304,130 US residents.
Is Moishe a common name?
We classify Moishe as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,171 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moishe most popular?
The single biggest year for Moishe was 2015, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moishe is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Moishe a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moishe 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.