ninan.org

Joseph

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~1,718,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#29 among boys
Births in 2025
7,315 2,680,213 since 1880
Typical age
44 years, median

Joseph popularity over time

Joseph rank by birth year, 1880–2025Joseph ranked #7 in 1880 and #29 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #5, in 1912.#10#29best #5 in 191218901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Joseph in 1956 than in any other year — 32,832 of them. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 146 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #29 with 7,315 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 37%.

Babies named Joseph per yearPeaks at 32,832 births in 1956.32,832 in 1956018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Joseph?

An estimated 1,718,200 living Americans are called Joseph. That is out of 2,680,213 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Joseph?

The typical living Joseph is 44 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 1980s. By the site’s era rules that makes Joseph a mid-century perennial name.

Your Joseph

Ages of living people named JosephHalf of living Josephs are older than 44 and half younger.median 44020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Joseph is most common

Joseph is 2.2× as common in New Jersey as it is nationally. Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware follow.

Where Joseph is used more than average5 states use the name Joseph more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: 2.0× the national rateWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 2.2× the national rateNJConnecticut: 2.1× the national rateCTRhode Island: 2.1× the national rateRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: 2.0× the national rateDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Joseph is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Jersey 4,150 2.2×
Connecticut 1,335 2.1×
Rhode Island 313 2.1×
Delaware 281 2.0×
Wyoming 111 2.0×

Joseph in England and Wales

ONS recorded 811 births named Joseph in 2025, ranking it #59. That is 44% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Joseph comes from

From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף; a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Joseph

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Joseph Haydn Austrian composer 1732–1809 158
Joseph Goebbels Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister 1897–1945 139
Joseph Fourier French mathematician and physicist 1768–1830 132
Joseph Conrad Polish-British writer 1857–1924 129
Joseph Smith founder of the Latter Day Saint movement and prophet 1805–1844 107
Joseph Priestley English chemist, theologian, educator, and political theorist 1733–1804 93
Joseph Addison English essayist, poet, playwright and politician 1672–1719 89
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790, (1741-1790). 1741–1790 83
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 6,516 in 1911 to 12,106 in 1912 — 1.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Joseph

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/joseph.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).