Josh
About Josh
Josh is a friendly, approachable masculine name that originated as a shortened form of Joshua, which comes from Hebrew meaning 'God is salvation.' While Joshua has biblical significance as the successor to Moses, Josh emerged as a standalone name in the 20th century, embodying a casual, down-to-earth quality. It gained significant popularity in the 1970s through the 1990s in the United States, ranking consistently in the top 100 names. Josh conveys an accessible, unpretentious character with its brief, one-syllable structure. The name suggests a straightforward, trustworthy personality and has maintained steady usage without seeming dated or trendy. Josh represents a perfect balance of familiarity and timelessness in contemporary naming practices.
As of October 2026, Josh ranked #1703 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #300 in 1880.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,144 | 166 | 86.4 |
| 2015 | #1,400 | 123 | 64.2 |
| 2016 | #1,542 | 108 | 56.9 |
| 2017 | #1,374 | 129 | 69.7 |
| 2018 | #1,513 | 113 | 62.2 |
| 2019 | #1,607 | 103 | 57.4 |
| 2020 | #1,682 | 94 | 54.5 |
| 2021 | #1,657 | 100 | 57.2 |
| 2022 | #1,763 | 94 | 53.8 |
| 2023 | #1,806 | 89 | 52 |
| 2024 | #1,736 | 95 | 55.1 |
| 2025 | #1,703 | 96 | 56.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
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Josh on lists
Famous Joshs
- Josh Devine
drummer for One Direction
- Josh McClorey
Irish guitarist
- Joshua Ilan "Josh" Gad
American actor and singer
- Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway
American actor
- Joshua Aaron "Josh" Charles
American actor
- Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban
American singer
- Joshua David "Josh" Duhamel
American actor
- Joshua Ryan "Josh" Hutcherson
American actor
- Josh Brolin
American actor
- Joshua Ryan "Josh" Zuckerman
American actor
- Joshua Baret "Josh" Henderson
American actor and singer
- Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett
American actor
- Joshua Michael "Josh" Homme III
American singer
- Josh Freese
American drummer
- Joshua Michael "Josh" Peck
American actor
- Joshua Patrick "Josh" Beckett
American baseball pitcher
- Joslin "Josh" McDowell
Christian apologist, evangelist, & writer
- Josh Kalis
American pro skateboarder
- Josh McDermitt
American actor
- Josh Gray
member of Irish boyband HomeTown
- Joshua James "Josh" Duggar
1st child of the reality TV show 19 Kids and Counting's Duggar family
- Josh Martin
real of name of musician Daughn Gibson
- Josh Brener
American actor
- Josh Parker (b. 2014)
son of French professional basketball player Tony Parker
- Joshua William "Josh" Dun
drummer for Twenty One Pilots
- Joshua 'Josh' Bradley
YouTube personality known as Zerkaa
Josh in pop culture
- Josh
main character in novelette "The Post,it Note Affair" by author Justine Avery
- Josh Nichols
main character on TV's "Drake & Josh," played by Josh Peck
- Josh Goldberg
character in "Does My Head Look Big in This?" by Randa Abdel,Fattah
- Josh Davenport
character on TV's "American Gothic"
- Josh Plowman
main character in novel "Josh" by Ivan Southall
- Joshua "Josh
" main character in short story "Nerdified" of "Nerds Rule the School" series by author Tina Tirrell
- Josh Spitz
character on animated series "Braceface"
- Josh Levison
character on TV's "Being Human"
- Josh Chan
a lead character on TV's "Crazy Ex,Girlfriend"
- Josh Baskin
lead character in film "Big"
- Josh Kaminski
a main character on TV's "Young & Hungry"
- Josh Rosza
a character on TV's "The Originals"
- Josh Lucas
character in the 1995 movie "Clueless"