Joshua King
There are approximately 1,827 people named Joshua King living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 187,605 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Joshua with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname King. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
1,827
1 in 187,605
Named Joshua
1.2M
Alive today
Named King
520K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.2M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1989
Average age: 33
Top Census group: White (68.4%)
Estimated bearers: 520K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #36
Per 100K: 151.74
Top ancestry: White (67.5%)
First name trend
Joshua: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Joshua. The peak year was 1989 with 44,307 births. The average person named Joshua today is 33 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joshua
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Joshua, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 68.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Joshua described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Joshua at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White68.4% · 642,325
- Hispanic or Latino14.3% · 134,350
- Black or African American9.1% · 85,627
- Two or more races4.6% · 43,383
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 27,387
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6,646
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the King surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname King, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 67.5%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname King described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname King at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White67.5% · 306,247
- Black or African American22.3% · 101,005
- Two or more races4.5% · 20,585
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 16,225
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5,191
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4,286
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Joshua has a living-bearer frequency of 0.3512% of the US population, based on 1,203,779 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Joshua right now.
The surname King appears at a rate of 151.74 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.1517%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 1,827 people with the full name Joshua King. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Joshua
Related
Other people with the surname King
FAQ
Joshua King: questions and answers
How many people are named Joshua King?
We estimate approximately 1,827 people in the United States share the full name Joshua King. That works out to about 1 in 187,605 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.3512%) with the surname frequency (151.74 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Joshua King?
We classify Joshua King as "Rare". About 1 in 187,605 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Joshua a male or female name?
Joshua is predominantly male. Out of 1,249,012 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Joshua profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are called Joshua King?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.