Each year it seems like more and more children are being named Joshua or Josh, so I did a little research to see what I could find. Thankfully, the United States Social Security Administration tracks all of this information. In the table below I show the percent of total males named Joshua in a given year, along with the percentage of males that were named Joshua in that year.
- In 1960 Joshua was the 453rd most popular male name in the united states. That year parents named 0.0146% of male children Joshua. That is only 146 out of 1,000,000 children.
- Compare 1960 to 1985 where Joshua was the 4th most popular name. That year 2.1946% of male children were named Joshua, that is 21,946 out of ever 1,000,000 children.
| Year of birth | Rank | Percent of total males born |
| 2008 | 4 | 0.8799% |
| 2007 | 4 | 0.9309% |
| 2006 | 3 | 1.0172% |
| 2005 | 3 | 1.0927% |
| 2004 | 3 | 1.1447% |
| 2003 | 3 | 1.1942% |
| 2002 | 3 | 1.2581% |
| 2001 | 4 | 1.2582% |
| 2000 | 4 | 1.3194% |
| 1999 | 4 | 1.3375% |
| 1998 | 4 | 1.3860% |
| 1997 | 5 | 1.4160% |
| 1996 | 5 | 1.4565% |
| 1995 | 5 | 1.5283% |
| 1994 | 4 | 1.5397% |
| 1993 | 4 | 1.6268% |
| 1992 | 4 | 1.7263% |
| 1991 | 4 | 1.9459% |
| 1990 | 4 | 2.0095% |
| 1989 | 4 | 2.1047% |
| 1988 | 4 | 2.1324% |
| 1987 | 4 | 2.0525% |
| 1986 | 4 | 1.9550% |
| 1985 | 4 | 2.1946% |
| 1984 | 4 | 2.1468% |
| 1983 | 5 | 1.9708% |
| 1982 | 7 | 2.0160% |
| 1981 | 6 | 2.0980% |
| 1980 | 7 | 1.9454% |
| 1979 | 9 | 1.7385% |
| 1978 | 12 | 1.4762% |
| 1977 | 14 | 1.2912% |
| 1976 | 18 | 1.0326% |
| 1975 | 26 | 0.8982% |
| 1974 | 29 | 0.7120% |
| 1973 | 42 | 0.4995% |
| 1972 | 59 | 0.3010% |
| 1971 | 80 | 0.2007% |
| 1970 | 150 | 0.1141% |
| 1969 | 197 | 0.0722% |
| 1968 | 270 | 0.0414% |
| 1967 | 312 | 0.0317% |
| 1966 | 341 | 0.0266% |
| 1965 | 352 | 0.0244% |
| 1964 | 407 | 0.0193% |
| 1963 | 418 | 0.0179% |
| 1962 | 435 | 0.0161% |
| 1961 | 424 | 0.0162% |
| 1960 | 453 | 0.0146% |
Data from United States Social Security Administration (ssa.gov)
Tags: Josh