Moshe
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "drawn out of the water".
Name Census estimates that about 16,829 living Americans carry the first name Moshe. It sits at #491 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Moshe today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moshe births was 2023 (663 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moshe. 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 Moshe with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 20,367 Americans
Peak year
2023
663 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#491
Tracked since 1942
Census
Moshe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,564 people with the first name Moshe, which placed it at #2,021 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
#2,021
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
13,564 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moshe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moshe is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Moshe 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 Moshe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.5% · 12,956
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 270
- Black or African American1.2% · 158
- Two or more races0.8% · 107
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 65
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Moshe
Out of the 17,287 babies given the name Moshe since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Moshe as a male name
- Ranked #491 in 2024
- 626 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (663 births)
Moshe as a female name
- Ranked #15,076 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1995 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moshe appears almost entirely male. Of the 13,574 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Moshe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moshe from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,162 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moshe remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moshe 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 Moshe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moshes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Moshe, while Massachusetts, Colorado, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,323 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moshe
The name Moshe is of Hebrew origin and has its roots in the ancient Israelite culture. It is derived from the Hebrew verb "mashah," which means "to draw out" or "to pull out." The name is closely associated with the biblical figure Moses, who was drawn out of the Nile River by Pharaoh's daughter.
Moshe is mentioned extensively in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books recount the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and guiding them through the wilderness towards the Promised Land. Moses is regarded as one of the most pivotal figures in Jewish history and is revered as a prophet, lawgiver, and leader.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Moshe can be traced back to ancient Israel, where it was likely given to male children in honor of the biblical Moses. Over the centuries, the name has been borne by numerous individuals of historical significance within the Jewish community.
One notable figure was Moshe ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides (1135-1204 CE), a renowned Jewish philosopher, theologian, and physician. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential scholars in Jewish history, with his works, such as the Mishneh Torah and The Guide for the Perplexed, shaping Jewish thought and practice for generations.
Another prominent figure was Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746), an Italian Jewish scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism and ethics. His works, such as Mesillat Yesharim (The Path of the Upright), are widely studied and respected in Jewish communities.
In the modern era, Moshe Dayan (1915-1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician who played a crucial role in several wars, including the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Six-Day War in 1967. He is remembered for his military leadership and his iconic eye patch, which became a symbol of Israeli strength and resilience.
Moshe Sharett (1894-1965) was an Israeli politician and diplomat who served as the second Prime Minister of Israel from 1954 to 1955. He played a significant role in shaping Israel's foreign policy and was a proponent of peaceful coexistence with neighboring Arab countries.
Moshe Safdie (born 1938) is a renowned Israeli-Canadian architect known for his innovative and culturally significant designs, including the famous Habitat 67 housing complex in Montreal and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
People
Moshe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moshe as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Moshe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moshe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,829 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moshe 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 20,367 US residents.
Is Moshe a common name?
We classify Moshe as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,287 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moshe most popular?
The single biggest year for Moshe was 2023, when 663 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moshe is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moshe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,564 people with the name Moshe, or 4.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,021 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 Moshe 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 Moshe?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moshe appears almost entirely male. Of the 13,574 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Moshe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moshe is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.0%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Moshe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Moshe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (12,956 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 Moshe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moshe a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Moshe 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 Moshe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moshe 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 Moshe 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 Moshe?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.