Joshua
Meaning of Joshua
Joshua is a Hebrew name, from Yehoshua, generally explained as meaning Yahweh is salvation or the Lord is salvation. In the Hebrew Bible it is the name of Moses’ successor, who led the Israelites into Canaan and is the namesake of the Book of Joshua. The name has long been used in English and remains closely tied to that biblical figure.
It is pronounced JAH-shoo-uh in both American and British English, and it is often shortened to Josh. Its foremost association is the biblical leader Joshua. Among historical figures, Joshua Chamberlain, the Maine professor who became a Union general and received the Medal of Honor for his defense at Gettysburg, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, the 18th-century English portrait painter and first president of the Royal Academy, are widely remembered.
In the United States, Joshua rose sharply in the 1970s, entered the top ten in 1979 and stayed there until 2009. It reached its highest rank, third, from 2002 through 2006. In 2025 it ranked 66th, with 4,773 boys given the name, down from 44,100 boys in 1989, when its use was at its numerical peak.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as JAH-shoo-uh (/ˈdʒɑʃuə/)
British English
- Pronunced as JAH-shoo-uh (/ˈdʒɒʃuə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Joshua
| Joshua Taylor Bassett is an American actor and singer best known for starring as Ricky Bowen in Disney Plus High School Musical The Musical The Series and for his 2024 debut album The Golden Years. |
| Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a Maine professor and politician who volunteered for the Union Army, became a decorated brigadier general famed for his Gettysburg bayonet charge that earned the Medal of Honor. |
| Sir Joshua Reynolds was an influential 18th century English portrait painter, founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, champion of the Grand Style, knighted by George III, and widely hailed as a master who transformed British art. |
| Joshua Slocum, a Nova Scotian-born American seaman and writer, was the first to sail solo around the world, chronicled it in his 1900 bestseller Sailing Alone Around the World, and vanished at sea in 1909. |
| Joshua David Bell is an American violinist and conductor, currently music director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. |
| Joshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor known for Dawson's Creek, Fringe, The Affair, and Dr. Death, which earned him a Critics Choice nomination. |
| Joshua Radin is an American singer songwriter with ten albums, known for his 2008 album Simple Times and songs featured in many films and TV shows. |
| Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer, and the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman. |
| Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer is an American and British film director known for the Oscar nominated The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, a 2014 MacArthur Fellow who debuted The End in 2024. |
| Joshua Clottey is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who fought from 1995 to 2019, held the IBF welterweight title in 2008 to 2009, competed at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, and was famed for a durable chin that saw him never stopped in his five losses. |
