Josyah
Hebrew masculine name meaning "God will support" or "God will heal".
Name Census estimates that about 466 living Americans carry the first name Josyah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Josyah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josyah births was 2020 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josyah. 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
466
~ 1 in 735,524 Americans
Peak year
2020
40 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,001
Tracked since 2004
Census
Josyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 286 people with the first name Josyah, which placed it at #30,451 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
#30,451
National first-name rank
People counted
286
286 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Josyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josyah is Black at 40.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.3%) and White (15.4%). 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 Josyah 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 Josyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.9% · 117
- Hispanic or Latino28.3% · 81
- White15.4% · 44
- Two or more races10.5% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 5
Popularity
Josyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josyah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 267 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Josyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josyah 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 Josyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Josyah, while North Carolina, Georgia, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Josyah
The name Josyah is derived from the Hebrew name Yoshiyahu, which means "founded by God" or "Yahweh is salvation." It is a variant spelling of the more common name Joshua or Josiah. The name has its origins in ancient Israel, dating back to the 7th century BC.
One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Josiah, a king of Judah who ruled from 640 to 609 BC. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a religious reformer who restored the worship of Yahweh and repaired the Temple in Jerusalem. His reign is recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles.
During the Middle Ages, the name was relatively uncommon in Europe, but it gained popularity among Puritans in England and later in the American colonies. One notable bearer of the name was Josiah Franklin (1657-1745), the father of Benjamin Franklin, who was a tallow chandler and immigrant from England to Boston.
In the 18th century, Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) was an influential English potter and entrepreneur who founded the Wedgwood company and is credited with industrializing the manufacture of pottery. Another significant figure was Josiah Quincy Jr. (1744-1775), a prominent American patriot and lawyer who was a leading voice for the American Revolution.
During the 19th century, Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903) was an American scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern statistical mechanics and chemical thermodynamics.
In the 20th century, Josyah Nakulira (1901-1971) was a Ugandan teacher and politician who played a crucial role in the formation of the Uganda National Congress, a political party that advocated for independence from British colonial rule.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Josyah or its variants. While the name has ancient roots in Hebrew tradition, it has been adopted and adapted across different cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Josyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josyah 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
Josyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 466 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josyah 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 735,524 US residents.
Is Josyah a common name?
We classify Josyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 470 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Josyah was 2020, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josyah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Josyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 286 people with the name Josyah, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,451 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 Josyah 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 Josyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Josyah leans strongly male. 274 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Josyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josyah is Black at 40.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.3%) and White (15.4%). 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 Josyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Josyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.9% (117 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 Josyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Josyah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josyah 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 Josyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Josyah 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 Josyah 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 Josyah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.