Jeshua
A masculine name derived from Hebrew meaning "God is salvation".
Name Census estimates that about 2,535 living Americans carry the first name Jeshua. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jeshua today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeshua births was 2007 (164 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeshua. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jeshua with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 135,209 Americans
Peak year
2007
164 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,484
Tracked since 1973
Census
Jeshua in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,040 people with the first name Jeshua, which placed it at #7,476 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,476
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,040 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
62.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeshua
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeshua is Hispanic at 62.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.7%) and Black (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jeshua described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jeshua at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino62.5% · 1,275
- White23.7% · 483
- Black or African American7.2% · 146
- Two or more races3.8% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Jeshua
Out of the 2,575 babies given the name Jeshua since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Jeshua as a male name
- Ranked #2,484 in 2024
- 55 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (164 births)
Jeshua as a female name
- Ranked #16,472 in 2001
- 5 female births in 2001
- Peak: 2001 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeshua leans strongly male. 2,011 people counted with this name were male (98.4%), compared with 32 female bearers (1.6%).
Popularity
Jeshua: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeshua from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,030 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeshua by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jeshua during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeshuas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jeshua, while Massachusetts, Colorado, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeshua
The name Jeshua originates from the Hebrew language and has its roots in ancient Israel, dating back to the biblical era. It is a variant spelling of the name Yehoshua or Yeshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "the Lord is salvation."
The earliest mention of the name can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it was borne by Joshua, the successor of Moses and the leader who led the Israelites into the Promised Land after their exodus from Egypt. This historical figure, Joshua son of Nun, is considered one of the most prominent figures in the Hebrew Bible.
In the New Testament, the name Jeshua is the Aramaic form of the name Jesus, which is derived from the Greek translation of the Hebrew name Yeshua. Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity, is undoubtedly the most famous bearer of this name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who carried the name Jeshua. One of the earliest was Jeshua ben Sira, a Jewish scholar and author who lived in the 2nd century BCE and is believed to have written the Book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus.
Another significant figure was Jeshua ben Jozadak, a high priest who served in the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, around 520 BCE. He played a crucial role in rebuilding the Temple and re-establishing the religious rituals of the Jewish people.
In the 1st century CE, Jeshua ben Gamla was a prominent Jewish leader and scholar who is credited with establishing the first formal system of universal education for Jewish children in ancient Israel.
During the Middle Ages, Jeshua ben Joseph Halevi was a renowned Jewish philosopher and mathematician who lived in Spain in the 12th century. He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy.
In more recent times, Jeshua Torniair was a Native American chief and leader of the Muskogee Creek people in the early 19th century, known for his efforts to preserve the traditions and culture of his tribe.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have borne the name Jeshua throughout history, reflecting its deep roots and rich cultural significance across different eras and regions.
People
Jeshua + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeshua as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jeshua: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeshua?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,535 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeshua going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 135,209 US residents.
Is Jeshua a common name?
We classify Jeshua as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,575 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeshua most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeshua was 2007, when 164 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeshua is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeshua in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,040 people with the name Jeshua, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,476 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jeshua in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jeshua?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeshua leans strongly male. 2,011 people counted with this name were male (98.4%), compared with 32 female bearers (1.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jeshua?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeshua is Hispanic at 62.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.7%) and Black (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jeshua most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jeshua in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.5% (1,275 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jeshua in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeshua a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Jeshua in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jeshua still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeshua in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jeshua can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Jeshua?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.