Joaquin
Hebrew masculine name meaning "God will judge".
Name Census estimates that about 32,298 living Americans carry the first name Joaquin. It sits at #340 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Joaquin today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joaquin births was 2008 (1,250 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joaquin. 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 Joaquin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Joaquin is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 53 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
32K
~ 1 in 10,612 Americans
Peak year
2008
1,250 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#340
Tracked since 1886
Census
Joaquin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 38,465 people with the first name Joaquin, which placed it at #1,077 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
#1,077
National first-name rank
People counted
38K
38,465 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
12.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joaquin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joaquin is Hispanic at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%). 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 Joaquin 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 Joaquin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.6% · 34,474
- White4.0% · 1,552
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 1,035
- Black or African American2.2% · 842
- Two or more races0.9% · 357
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 205
Gender
Gender distribution for Joaquin
Out of the 34,717 babies given the name Joaquin 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.
Joaquin as a male name
- Ranked #340 in 2024
- 1,009 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (1,245 births)
Joaquin as a female name
- Ranked #18,823 in 2008
- 5 female births in 2008
- Peak: 2002 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joaquin appears almost entirely male. Of the 38,466 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Joaquin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joaquin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 9,896 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Joaquin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joaquin 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 Joaquin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joaquins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Joaquin, while South Dakota, Hawaii, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 772 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joaquin
The name Joaquin originated from the Hebrew language and culture. It is a masculine given name derived from the biblical Hebrew name Yehoiakim, which means "raised by Yahweh" or "established by Yahweh". The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula, where it was spelled as Joaquín in Spanish and Joaquim in Portuguese.
The earliest recorded use of the name Joaquin can be traced back to the 13th century. It is mentioned in several historical documents and religious texts from that period, particularly in Spain and Portugal. One notable example is the 13th-century Spanish scholar and philosopher, Joaquin de Fiore, who was known for his influential writings on biblical prophecy and apocalyptic visions.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Joaquin. One of the earliest recorded figures was Joaquin de Ancieta y Legara (1512-1588), a Spanish Franciscan missionary who played a significant role in the evangelization of Mexico and the Philippines. Another prominent figure was Joaquin Ibarra (1725-1785), a Spanish printer and typographer renowned for his groundbreaking work in printing techniques and typography.
In the 19th century, Joaquin Murieta (c. 1829-1853) was a famous Mexican outlaw and folk hero who gained notoriety for his exploits in California during the Gold Rush era. His story has been the subject of numerous books, films, and legends. Another notable figure from this period was Joaquin Balaguer (1907-2002), a Dominican politician and writer who served as the president of the Dominican Republic for over 20 years.
In the 20th century, Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) was a renowned Spanish composer and virtuoso pianist, best known for his guitar compositions, including the famous "Concierto de Aranjuez". Another influential figure was Joaquin Torres-Garcia (1874-1949), a Uruguayan artist and theorist who played a pivotal role in the development of Constructivism and modern art in Latin America.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have borne the name Joaquin throughout history, reflecting its rich cultural heritage and enduring popularity across various regions and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Joaquin
People
Joaquin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joaquin 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
Joaquin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joaquin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 32,298 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joaquin 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 10,612 US residents.
Is Joaquin a common name?
We classify Joaquin as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,717 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joaquin most popular?
The single biggest year for Joaquin was 2008, when 1,250 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joaquin is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joaquin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 38,465 people with the name Joaquin, or 12.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,077 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 Joaquin 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 Joaquin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joaquin appears almost entirely male. Of the 38,466 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Joaquin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joaquin is Hispanic at 89.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%). 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 Joaquin most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Joaquin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (34,474 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 Joaquin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joaquin a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Joaquin 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 Joaquin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joaquin 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 Joaquin 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 called Joaquin?
Find out how many people share the name Joaquin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.