Joss
Variant of the name Joseph meaning "He will add" in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 670 living Americans carry the first name Joss. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Joss today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joss births was 2005 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joss. 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
670
~ 1 in 511,574 Americans
Peak year
2005
41 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,613
Tracked since 1977
Gender
Gender distribution for Joss
Joss is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 678 total registrations, 428 (63.1%) were male and 250 (36.9%) were female.
Joss as a male name
- Ranked #6,613 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (27 births)
Joss as a female name
- Ranked #14,227 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (20 births)
Popularity
Joss: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joss from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 284 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Joss remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joss 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 Joss during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joss' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Joss
The given name Joss has its origins in various cultures and languages, with multiple possible derivations and meanings. One theory suggests that it is derived from the Germanic name Jodocus, which itself is a variant of the Biblical name Judocus, meaning "praised." This name can be traced back to the 7th century and was particularly popular in medieval Europe.
Another theory links Joss to the French name Joseph, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning "he will add." This connection can be seen in the Middle English form of the name, Josse, which was a common variant of Joseph during the Middle Ages.
In some cases, Joss may also be a diminutive or nickname for names like Jocelyn or Josiah. The name Jocelyn, for instance, has its roots in the Breton name Jocelin, which is believed to be derived from the Germanic element "gaut," meaning "tribe" or "people."
Historically, the name Joss has been associated with several notable figures. One of the earliest recorded examples is Joss van Cleve, a Flemish Renaissance painter who lived from around 1485 to 1541. Another prominent individual was Joss Whedon, the American screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work on the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, born in 1964.
In literature, Joss Merlyn is a character in T.H. White's novel "The Once and Future King," published in 1958, and is depicted as the wizard responsible for the education and upbringing of the young King Arthur. The name Joss also appears in religious texts, such as the 16th-century Dutch scholar Joss van Lieden, who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation.
Other notable individuals with the first name Joss include Joss Ackland, an English actor born in 1928, and Joss Stone, an English singer and songwriter born in 1987. These examples demonstrate the wide range of cultural backgrounds and time periods in which the name Joss has been used.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Joss
People
Joss + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joss 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
Joss: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joss?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 670 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joss 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 511,574 US residents.
Is Joss a common name?
We classify Joss as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 678 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joss most popular?
The single biggest year for Joss was 2005, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joss is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Joss a male name?
Yes, 63.1% of people registered as Joss 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.
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.