embrisa.
embrisa.
Theme
Masculine

Joshua

/ˈdʒɒʃ.u.ə/

Yahweh is salvation

Hebrew

How to say it

JOSH · u · a

/ˈdʒɒʃ.u.ə/

What it means

Hebrew Yehoshua, 'Yahweh is salvation.' Moses's successor, the figure who led the Israelites into Canaan and won the battle of Jericho. The Hebrew form of Jesus.

Joshua is the English rendering of the Hebrew Yehoshua, 'Yahweh is salvation.' In the Old Testament Joshua succeeds Moses and leads the Israelites into the promised land; the Book of Joshua tells that story. The Hebrew Yehoshua became Yeshua in later usage, which became Iēsous in Greek and Jesus in English — so Joshua and Jesus are forms of the same name, separated by centuries of language drift. The English Joshua surged with the broader Puritan biblical-name revival in the 1970s and stayed in the US top 20 for decades. Josh has been the universal nickname since at least the 1980s.

Popularity over time

#10 #100 #1 #73118802025

peaked at #3 in 2002, currently #66 in 2025.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving

Heads-up notes

  • Nickname

    Josh is the universal short, and it's a fully separate identity for most Joshuas in adulthood.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

  • Joshua (Bible) Moses's successor, led the Israelites into Canaan and won the battle of Jericho
  • Joshua Bell American violinist, classical music's most-recognizable face
  • Joshua Jackson Actor, Dawson's Creek and The Affair

Spelling variants

  • Josh
  • Yehoshua
  • Jesús