How Many People Are Named Joseph?
people named Joseph are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 203 people in the US has this name
Based on 2,680,213 babies named Joseph in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
βββ Very Common
Peak Year
32,832 births
Trend
Declining (last 10 years)
π Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From Ioseph, the Latin form of Greek ΞΟΟΞ·Ο (Ioseph), which was from the Hebrew name ΧΧΦΉΧ‘Φ΅Χ£ (Yosef) meaning "he will add". In the Old Testament Joseph is the eleventh son of Jacob and the first with his wife Rachel. Because he was the favourite of his father, his older brothers sent him to Egypt and told their father that he had died. In Egypt, Joseph became an advisor to the pharaoh, and was eventually reconciled with his brothers when they came to Egypt during a famine. This name also occurs in the New Testament, belonging to Saint Joseph the husband of Mary, and to Joseph of Arimathea.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
β§ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Joseph (99.6%) were boys.
π₯ Age Distribution
The average person named Joseph alive today is about 45 years old, and 45% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 28 and 62 in 2025.
π Popularity Over Time
Joseph first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1956, to 32,832 babies. In 2025, 7,315 babies got the name. Over the last ten years, the number each year has been falling.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
π Rank History
Joseph reached #5 among boys' names in 1912 to 1917, and was in the top 10 in 70 years between 1880 and 2005. In 2025 it ranked #29.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #29 |
| Best rank | #5 (1912 to 1917) |
| Years in the top 10 | 70 |
| Years in the top 100 | 146 (1880 to 2025) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #13 in the 1950s |
π State-Wise Distribution
People named Joseph alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Joseph were born in New York than in any other state: about 199,737 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Joseph was given 2 times as often in Rhode Island, 1.9 times in New Jersey and 1.7 times in Connecticut.
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