How common is the name Joseph?

1,600,667 people in the United States have the first name Joseph, about 1 in 189. It ranks #10 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

JOSEPH

#10

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
1,600,667
About
1 in 189
This common or more
8%
Who bears it

Of the 1,600,667 people named Joseph, 76.8% reported their origin as White, 10.4% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.1% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Joseph peaked in 1956, when 32,832 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1956
Births that year
32,832
In 2025*
7,315 ▼78%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 2,680,213 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Joseph by decade

Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #9 in the 1880s and 1910s. The largest share of babies named Joseph, 20.8%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#926,404
1890s#1429,187
1900s#1835,346
1910s#9179,927
1920s#12245,187
1930s#16181,452
1940s#20230,953
1950s#21300,765
1960s#16284,271
1970s#15246,336
1980s#14301,405
1990s#12261,388
2000s#10195,325
2010s#28115,878
2020s#3946,389
Before 19012.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–2715.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4513.1%
Baby boom 1946–6420.8%
Generation X 1965–8015.3%
Millennials 1981–9617.2%
Generation Z 1997–1211.4%
2013 and later4.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Joseph is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Joseph has been most common in Rhode Island (2.2×), New Jersey (1.9×), and Pennsylvania (1.8×), and least common in Oklahoma (0.49×).

2,584,618 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Joseph

#8 Maria · 1,652,966#9 Daniel · 1,607,193#11 Richard · 1,575,998#12 Thomas · 1,506,606

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Joseph, most common first.

#4,289 Joeseph · 4,431#11,176 Josep · 1,162#14,083 Josph · 843#18,116 Josepha · 598#19,389 Josheph · 546#42,079 Josephe · 172

Also a last name

As a last name, Joseph ranks #283 of 156,621, with 108,935 people. See Joseph as a last name

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