Josafat
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "The Lord has judged".
Name Census estimates that about 443 living Americans carry the first name Josafat. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Josafat today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josafat births was 2003 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josafat. 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.
People living today
443
~ 1 in 773,712 Americans
Peak year
2003
20 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,562
Tracked since 1986
Census
Josafat in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 777 people with the first name Josafat, which placed it at #14,953 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
#14,953
National first-name rank
People counted
777
777 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Josafat
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josafat is Hispanic at 97.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Josafat 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 Josafat at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.9% · 761
- White1.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
Popularity
Josafat: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josafat from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 141 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Josafat remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josafat 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 Josafat during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josafats live
Origin
Meaning and history of Josafat
The given name Josafat has its origins in the Hebrew language and is derived from the name Yehoshafat. This name consists of two elements: "Yahweh" (meaning "the Lord") and "shafat" (meaning "to judge" or "he has judged"). As such, the name Josafat can be interpreted as "Yahweh has judged" or "the Lord has judged".
The name Josafat is primarily associated with the biblical figure Jehoshaphat, who was a king of Judah in the 9th century BCE. He is mentioned in various books of the Hebrew Bible, including 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and the Book of Psalms. Jehoshaphat was known for his religious reforms and his efforts to strengthen the kingdom of Judah.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Josafat can be found in medieval Latin texts, where it was used as a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Jehoshaphat. The name gained popularity in various European cultures, particularly in Eastern Europe, where it was widely adopted by Christian communities.
One of the earliest notable individuals named Josafat was Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych (c. 1580-1623), a Ukrainian Catholic priest and martyr. He was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1867 and is regarded as the patron saint of Ukraine.
Another prominent figure with this name was Josafat Barbaro (c. 1413-1494), a Venetian diplomat and explorer. He is known for his travel accounts and descriptions of various regions, including the lands of the Golden Horde and the Persian Empire.
In the 16th century, the name Josafat was also borne by Josafat Kuncewicz (c. 1580-1623), a Polish-Lithuanian noble and military leader who played a significant role in the Polish-Muscovite War (1609-1618).
Another notable individual named Josafat was Josafat Hilarión Quintero (1788-1820), a Venezuelan priest and revolutionary who supported the cause of Venezuelan independence. He was executed by Spanish colonial authorities for his involvement in the independence movement.
In the 19th century, Josafat Marochovski (1805-1879) was a Ukrainian Catholic priest and writer who made significant contributions to the development of the Ukrainian language and literature. He is particularly known for his translations of religious texts into the Ukrainian vernacular.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the given name Josafat, highlighting its diverse cultural and historical connections across various regions and contexts.
People
Josafat + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josafat 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
Josafat: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josafat?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 443 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josafat 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 773,712 US residents.
Is Josafat a common name?
We classify Josafat as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josafat most popular?
The single biggest year for Josafat was 2003, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josafat is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Josafat in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 777 people with the name Josafat, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,953 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 Josafat 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 Josafat?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Josafat leans strongly male. 753 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 32 female bearers (4.1%). 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 Josafat?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josafat is Hispanic at 97.9%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Josafat most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Josafat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.9% (761 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 Josafat in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Josafat a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josafat 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 Josafat still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Josafat 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 Josafat 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 Josafat?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.