Josie
Josie was given to 3,021 girls in 2025, #82 among girls’ names; 75,915 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 56,500 Americans named Josie and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (74% of everyone recorded); the median is 16 years old and half are between 6 and 30.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Josie by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Josie mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Josie is “a diminutive of the female given name Josephine.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Josie?
#82 among girls’ names, 2025
Josie rose from #250 in 2015 to #82 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.72 to 1.9 per 1,000.
3,027 babies in 2025, the peak
Josie peaked in 2025, when 3,027 babies were given it (3,021 girls, #82 among girls’ names). In 2024 it went to 2,903 girls.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3,021 | #82 | 1.9 |
| 2024 | 2,903 | #88 | 1.8 |
| 2023 | 2,515 | #108 | 1.6 |
| 2022 | 2,372 | #120 | 1.4 |
| 2021 | 2,167 | #130 | 1.3 |
| 2020 | 2,003 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 2019 | 1,859 | #155 | 1.1 |
| 2018 | 1,586 | #192 | 0.93 |
| 2017 | 1,535 | #200 | 0.89 |
| 2016 | 1,368 | #237 | 0.77 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,294 | #250 | 0.72 |
| 2014 | 1,288 | #252 | 0.72 |
| 2013 | 1,223 | #266 | 0.70 |
| 2012 | 1,277 | #253 | 0.73 |
| 2011 | 1,246 | #256 | 0.71 |
| 2010 | 1,251 | #262 | 0.70 |
| 2009 | 1,056 | #310 | 0.57 |
| 2008 | 1,134 | #294 | 0.60 |
| 2007 | 1,129 | #299 | 0.59 |
| 2006 | 1,124 | #295 | 0.59 |
| 2005 | 1,017 | #317 | 0.55 |
| 2004 | 975 | #324 | 0.53 |
| 2003 | 1,018 | #305 | 0.56 |
| 2002 | 1,110 | #282 | 0.62 |
| 2001 | 1,101 | #282 | 0.61 |
| 2000 | 970 | #328 | 0.53 |
| 1999 | 889 | #340 | 0.50 |
| 1998 | 801 | #360 | 0.45 |
| 1997 | 752 | #367 | 0.43 |
| 1996 | 820 | #340 | 0.47 |
| 1995 | 725 | #362 | 0.41 |
| 1994 | 574 | #441 | 0.32 |
| 1993 | 401 | #589 | 0.22 |
| 1992 | 364 | #622 | 0.20 |
| 1991 | 350 | #638 | 0.19 |
| 1990 | 363 | #618 | 0.19 |
| 1989 | 320 | #643 | 0.17 |
| 1988 | 248 | #755 | 0.14 |
| 1987 | 202 | #851 | 0.12 |
| 1986 | 204 | #823 | 0.12 |
| 1985 | 220 | #769 | 0.13 |
| 1984 | 249 | #681 | 0.15 |
| 1983 | 298 | #595 | 0.18 |
| 1982 | 274 | #652 | 0.16 |
| 1981 | 261 | #669 | 0.16 |
| 1980 | 269 | #664 | 0.16 |
| 1979 | 251 | #682 | 0.16 |
| 1978 | 215 | #729 | 0.14 |
| 1977 | 232 | #676 | 0.15 |
| 1976 | 215 | #691 | 0.15 |
| 1975 | 196 | #739 | 0.13 |
| 1974 | 211 | #699 | 0.14 |
| 1973 | 192 | #732 | 0.13 |
| 1972 | 214 | #686 | 0.14 |
| 1971 | 227 | #680 | 0.14 |
| 1970 | 170 | #815 | 0.10 |
| 1969 | 177 | #759 | 0.10 |
| 1968 | 184 | #720 | 0.11 |
| 1967 | 140 | #855 | 0.08 |
| 1966 | 163 | #769 | 0.10 |
| 1965 | 180 | #747 | 0.10 |
| 1964 | 204 | #730 | 0.11 |
| 1963 | 222 | #674 | 0.12 |
| 1962 | 232 | #671 | 0.12 |
| 1961 | 253 | #640 | 0.13 |
| 1960 | 305 | #561 | 0.15 |
| 1959 | 276 | #598 | 0.14 |
| 1958 | 267 | #609 | 0.13 |
| 1957 | 276 | #580 | 0.13 |
| 1956 | 280 | #560 | 0.14 |
| 1955 | 222 | #622 | 0.11 |
| 1954 | 228 | #600 | 0.12 |
| 1953 | 203 | #623 | 0.11 |
| 1952 | 196 | #631 | 0.11 |
| 1951 | 233 | #554 | 0.13 |
| 1950 | 246 | #522 | 0.14 |
| 1949 | 269 | #491 | 0.16 |
| 1948 | 351 | #423 | 0.21 |
| 1947 | 360 | #429 | 0.20 |
| 1946 | 332 | #422 | 0.21 |
| 1945 | 335 | #385 | 0.26 |
| 1944 | 352 | #376 | 0.27 |
| 1943 | 331 | #404 | 0.24 |
| 1942 | 362 | #372 | 0.27 |
| 1941 | 345 | #360 | 0.29 |
| 1940 | 337 | #351 | 0.29 |
| 1939 | 334 | #354 | 0.30 |
| 1938 | 373 | #327 | 0.34 |
| 1937 | 353 | #331 | 0.33 |
| 1936 | 330 | #344 | 0.32 |
| 1935 | 376 | #326 | 0.36 |
| 1934 | 379 | #321 | 0.36 |
| 1933 | 334 | #340 | 0.33 |
| 1932 | 291 | #384 | 0.27 |
| 1931 | 338 | #348 | 0.32 |
| 1930 | 356 | #355 | 0.32 |
| 1929 | 364 | #339 | 0.33 |
| 1928 | 364 | #357 | 0.32 |
| 1927 | 409 | #333 | 0.34 |
| 1926 | 406 | #328 | 0.34 |
| 1925 | 409 | #331 | 0.34 |
| 1924 | 426 | #326 | 0.34 |
| 1923 | 413 | #318 | 0.34 |
| 1922 | 448 | #308 | 0.37 |
| 1921 | 420 | #321 | 0.34 |
| 1920 | 436 | #314 | 0.36 |
| 1919 | 481 | #290 | 0.43 |
| 1918 | 430 | #307 | 0.37 |
| 1917 | 403 | #306 | 0.37 |
| 1916 | 363 | #319 | 0.35 |
| 1915 | 379 | #299 | 0.39 |
| 1914 | 344 | #283 | 0.45 |
| 1913 | 257 | #297 | 0.41 |
| 1912 | 269 | #274 | 0.48 |
| 1911 | 193 | #280 | 0.46 |
| 1910 | 251 | #242 | 0.63 |
| 1909 | 202 | #250 | 0.58 |
| 1908 | 207 | #235 | 0.62 |
| 1907 | 191 | #248 | 0.60 |
| 1906 | 193 | #228 | 0.65 |
| 1905 | 217 | #208 | 0.74 |
| 1904 | 206 | #210 | 0.75 |
| 1903 | 210 | #201 | 0.80 |
| 1902 | 221 | #196 | 0.84 |
| 1901 | 205 | #199 | 0.86 |
| 1900 | 266 | #194 | 0.89 |
| 1899 | 243 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1898 | 219 | #197 | 0.85 |
| 1897 | 209 | #189 | 0.89 |
| 1896 | 227 | #182 | 1.0 |
| 1895 | 234 | #175 | 1.0 |
| 1894 | 241 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1893 | 233 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1892 | 263 | #152 | 1.2 |
| 1891 | 218 | #155 | 1.2 |
| 1890 | 242 | #146 | 1.3 |
| 1889 | 207 | #153 | 1.2 |
| 1888 | 257 | #134 | 1.4 |
| 1887 | 192 | #136 | 1.3 |
| 1886 | 212 | #131 | 1.5 |
| 1885 | 211 | #123 | 1.6 |
| 1884 | 198 | #125 | 1.5 |
| 1883 | 148 | #133 | 1.3 |
| 1882 | 169 | #122 | 1.6 |
| 1881 | 149 | #116 | 1.6 |
| 1880 | 141 | #116 | 1.5 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Josie a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Josie has been given almost only to girls: 545 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Josie: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Josie, and how old are they?
56,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 74% of the 75,915 Americans ever recorded as Josie. The median Josie alive today is 16 years old; half are between 6 and 30.
The 2020 Census counted 46,382 people named Josie (45,833 women and girls, 549 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 43,913 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,860 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,820 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,060 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,860 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 16,800 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 25,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Josie born?
The states with the most babies named Josie are Texas, California and North Carolina, with 18% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 233 | #136 | 1.1× |
| California | 179 | #183 | 0.6× |
| North Carolina | 141 | #57 | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 138 | #65 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 133 | #63 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 126 | #140 | 0.7× |
| Tennessee | 103 | #56 | 1.4× |
| Georgia | 102 | #80 | 1.3× |
| Michigan | 101 | #65 | 0.8× |
| New York | 89 | #183 | 0.3× |
Where Josie is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Josie is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 2.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Josie with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 83,933 babies since 1880, Josie is the most given (90% of them). In 2025 it was given to 3,027 of their 3,132 babies (97%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Josie
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Josie and names like it
- Compare Josie and JoseyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sJosie peaked in 2025.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Josie since 1910.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Josie.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Josie alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with JMost given first.