Josiah — #53 US boys' name
143,338 babies named Josiah in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2017. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99.6% of names given to boys today.
44% of everyone ever named Josiah was born in this single decade.
7,073 babies were named Josiah in 2017 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Josiah
The Social Security Administration has registered 143,338 babies named Josiah between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Josiah currently holds the #53 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2017, when 7,073 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Josiah performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 63,095 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Josiah shows notable generational variation in parental adoption. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 18,238 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and Florida. In total, SSA state-level files list Josiah in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Josiah in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 143,338 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Josiah at a glance
Top 100 boys' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Josiah popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (2017)
- 7,073
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #53 among boys.
143,338 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 2017 with 7,073 births in a single year.
Josiah popularity over time — girls
449 total births recorded since 1981 (Josiah as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Josiah accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Josiah by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 2010s
- 63,095 births that decade — 44% of Josiah's all-time total
Josiah decade highlights
- Peak decade 63,095 births
- Runner-up 33,255 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
2010s was Josiah's strongest decade
63,095 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 44% of all-time use.
Josiah by state
Where Josiah concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 18,238 | 12.7% |
| #2 | Texas | | 16,163 | 11.3% |
| #3 | Florida | | 9,382 | 6.5% |
| #4 | New York | | 7,090 | 4.9% |
| #5 | North Carolina | | 5,439 | 3.8% |
| #6 | Georgia | | 5,227 | 3.6% |
| #7 | Pennsylvania | | 4,993 | 3.5% |
| #8 | Ohio | | 4,797 | 3.3% |
18,238 of 143,338 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- California 12.7% of nationwide
- Texas 11.3% of nationwide
- Florida 6.5% of nationwide
- New York 4.9% of nationwide
- North Carolina 3.8% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
California accounts for 12.7% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Josiah appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Josiah
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.