NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Yoshua

A masculine given name derived from Hebrew meaning "Yahweh is salvation".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2017. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Yoshua is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Yoshua popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2017 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4812, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2005, with 4 births.

This profile covers 13 England and Wales registrations across 4 recorded years from 2005 to 2017. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 75% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 13 living people in the UK are called Yoshua. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2018 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Yoshua ranked #4812 for boys in England and Wales in 2017, with 3 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2005, when 4 boys were registered as Yoshua.
  • About 13 living people in the UK are estimated to have Yoshua as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#4812

2017

Births in 2017

3

Latest year

Peak year

2005

4 births

Estimated living

13

2026

Meaning

What does Yoshua mean?

The name Yoshua is derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation" or "Yahweh is deliverance." The name has its origins in the ancient Israelite culture and can be traced back to the biblical figure Joshua, who was a prominent figure in the Old Testament.

The earliest recorded mention of the name Yoshua is in the Book of Exodus, where Joshua is described as the successor of Moses and the leader who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. The name is also mentioned in various other books of the Old Testament, including the Book of Numbers and the Book of Joshua.

One of the earliest and most famous individuals with the name Yoshua was Joshua, the son of Nun, who lived in the 13th century BCE. He was a military leader and a prophet who played a crucial role in the conquest of Canaan and the establishment of the Israelite tribes in the Promised Land.

In the 1st century CE, there was a prominent Jewish figure named Yoshua ben Perachyah, who was a Tanna (a scholar of the Mishnah) and a leading figure in the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish council of the time.

During the Renaissance period, there was a Spanish painter named Yoshua Reynolds (1549-1615), who was known for his religious paintings and murals depicting biblical scenes.

In the 19th century, Yoshua Chamberlain (1828-1914) was an American military officer who served as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He played a significant role in several major battles, including the Battle of Gettysburg.

Another notable figure with the name Yoshua was Yoshua Lederberg (1925-2008), an American molecular biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1958 for his work on bacterial genetics and the discovery of bacterial conjugation.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Yoshua over time

The chart below shows babies named Yoshua registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 2005 to 2017. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Yoshua, the clearest high point is 2005. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2017, compared with 4 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Yoshua
01234200520112017

Decades

Yoshua by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Yoshua was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2010s #4730 6 2
2000s #3771 7 2

Related

Names similar to Yoshua

FAQ

Yoshua: questions and answers

How popular is the name Yoshua in the UK right now?

In 2017, Yoshua was ranked #4812 for boys in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.

When was Yoshua most popular?

The peak year on record was 2005, with 4 babies registered as Yoshua in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Yoshua?

A masculine given name derived from Hebrew meaning "Yahweh is salvation".

How many people are called Yoshua in the UK?

A total of 13 babies have been registered as Yoshua across the 4 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.