Joshua Name Meaning Origin, Popularity and Similar Names

Filed in Articles by on January 6, 2023

Looking for a contemporary name for your baby boy? Joshua name meaning might be just the right pick for you. Let’s check out The Joshua Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity and if it’s the right name for your baby boy. A name of Hebrew origins, Joshua means God is salvation.

If you’re looking for a warm, familiar, traditional name that has been popular in the U.S. for the past half-century, Joshua could be the name for you.

Joshua comes from the Hebrew name “Yehoshua, meaning “God is deliverance.” In the Old Testament of the Bible, Joshua was the name of the Israelite leader who succeeded Moses and led the Hebrews to the Promised Land.

Joshua Meaning and Origin

The name Joshua is a boy’s name of Hebrew origin meaning “the Lord is my salvation”.

Joshua was derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua, from the roots yeho, referring to God, and yasha’, meaning “to save.”

Joshua shares origins with the name Jesus, which comes from the Aramaic variation Yeshu’a.

An important figure in the Old Testament, Joshua was the successor to Moses who finally led the Israelites into the Promised Land, inspiring the hymn “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.”

The typical nickname for Joshua is Josh, a name in its own right.

With roots in Greek and Latin, Joshua has several very different-looking foreign spellings, including Yushua (Arabic), Jozua (Dutch), Josué (French), Giosuè (Italian), and Jesús (Spanish).

Common misspellings are ‘Josha’ and ‘Joshau’.

Although Joshua stayed in the top thousand names for boys in the USA from 1880, it didn’t start to enjoy real popularity as a name until the 1970s, when it started the decade at #150 and ended at #9 on the most popular name for boys list.

It peaked at third from 2002 until 2006, and since then it has been slowly decreasing in popularity, settling at 25th in 2022.

Interestingly, at the same time Joshua initially became popular as a boy’s name, the name crept into the top thousand names for girls from 1978 until 1989 in the USA.

In the UK, the name Joshua saw a spike of popularity from 2002 to 2005 but has since fallen from the second most popular name to the twelfth in 2013.

Both Josh Groban (American musician) and Josh Hutcherson (American actor) were originally given the name Joshua.

Other famous people named Joshua are Joshua Radin (American musician) and Joshua Cohen (American author).

There is an urban legend that NASA managed to ‘prove’ the Bible when their computers, which were tracking the movements of the planets in the past and future so that satellites wouldn’t crash into them hundreds of years down the line.

They had discovered a missing day that matched up perfectly with the story of a missing day in Joshua 10, giving the day the name ‘the missing day of Joshua’.

How Popular is the Name Joshua?

Joshua has been one of the top 100 boy names in America since 1971. Its popularity steadily rose in the 1970s, reaching the top 10 in 1979 and staying there for the next 30 years.

Although the name Joshua is typically used as a masculine name, it can certainly be used however you see fit as sex doesn’t have to be a part of your name selection process.

Considering Joshua as a Baby Name?

The first thing you should know if you are considering Joshua for your baby’s name is that in most countries all over the world, the name Joshua is a boy’s name.

The name Joshua is of Hebrew origin and is used mostly in English-speaking countries, but also in a few other countries and languages of the world.

If you consider naming your baby Joshua, we recommend you take note of the special meaning and history of the name as your baby’s name will play a big role in its life and your baby will hear it spoken every day.

Searching for a name is a very important and fun process, as it’s the very first gift you will give to your baby.

Many people believe that the name can affect success in life, through their children’s working career and other circumstances, so they choose more “respectable” names or name meanings as they believe that the name meaning reflects the personality of the child.

Name Variations

As a biblical name, Joshua has an equivalent in virtually every known language. These include:

1. Giosia (Italian)

2. Iokua (Hawaiian)

3. Iosua (Romanian)

4. Joaquim (Portuguese)

5. Joaquin (Spanish)

6. Joschua (German)

7. Josua (Hungarian)

8. Josva (Danish)

9. Jozsua (Hungarian)

10. Jozua (Dutch)

11. Yehoshua (Hebrew)

Similar Names

I closely related the name Jesus to Joshua. The original name of Jesus was Yeshua, an Aramaic short form of the Hebrew name Yehoshua.

I wrote the New Testament in ancient Greek, and it rendered Yeshua as Iesous, which became Iesus in Latin and Jesus in English.

Other Boy Names Starting with J:

1. Jacob

2. Jack

3. James

4. Jason

5. Jeremy

6. John

7. Joseph

8. Justin

Other Old Testament Boy Names:

9. Aaron

10. Elijah

11. Ezra

12. Daniel

13. David

14. Nathan

15. Noah

16. Samson

17. Seth

Suggested Sibling Names

Here are some names that pair well with Joshua:

1. Christopher

2. Ethan

3. Matthew

4. Nicholas

5. Abigail

6. Emily

7. Hannah

8. Miriam

Famous People Named Joshua

There has been a multitude of famous people given the name Joshua or a variation of it.

1. Joshua Bell (born 1967), American violinist and conductor

2. Joshua Bolten (born 1954), American lawyer and politician, chief of staff to former President George W. Bush

3. Joshua Chamberlain (1828–1914), a brigadier general in the Union army during the American Civil War

4. Joshua Evans (1731–1798), American Quaker minister, journalist, and abolitionist

5. Joshua Fishman (1926–2015), American linguist

6. Joshua Jackson (born 1978), Canadian-American actor known for his roles in the TV show “Dawson’s Creek” and the “Mighty Ducks” film series

7. Joshua Johnson (born 1980), American journalist and host of “The Week with Joshua Johnson” on MSNBC

8. Joshua Oppenheimer (born 1974), English film director known for his films “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence”

9. Joshua Perper (born 1932), Romanian-born American forensic pathologist and toxicologist

10. Joshua Redman (born 1969), American jazz saxophonist and composer

11. Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), English painter specializing in portraits

12. Joshua Slocum (1844–1909), American seaman and adventurer, known as the first man to sail solo around the world

13. Josh Beckett (born 1980), American former Major League Baseball pitcher

14. Josh Dun (born 1988), American musician, known as the drummer for the alt-rock band Twenty One Pilots

15. Josh Gad (born 1981), American actor, voice actor, and comedian, known as the voice of Olaf in “Frozen”

16. Josh Groban (born 1981), American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer

17. Josh Hartnett (born 1978), American actor known for his roles in “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down”

18. Josh Mostel(born 1946), American actor known for his roles in “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Billy Madison”

19. Josh Radnor (born 1974), American actor known for his role on the TV show “How I Met Your Mother”

20. Josh Thomas (born 1987), Australian actor, writer, and comedian known for the TV series “Please Like Me” and “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay”

If you really love the name Joshua, then I hope this article has helped you to re-affirm that the name is a good pick for your child.

If you want to see more articles such as these, bookmark this page and also don’t forget to share this article with your friends and maybe intending mothers.

CSN Team.

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