Name Rarity Checker / How rare is Joseph
How Rare Is the Name Joseph?
Joseph has been steady for well over a century. It ranks 8th of all time in U.S. records, with about 1 in 139 people sharing it, which puts it in the Very Common tier. It was most popular in the 1980s. Here is the full picture, decade by decade, plus a card you can save and share.
- Rarity
- 1 in 139
- Tier
- Very Common
- U.S. rank
- 8th
- Share of people
- 0.718%
- People named
- 2,672,746
- Most popular
- the 1980s
Based on U.S. births recorded by the Social Security Administration, 1880 to 2024. Figures describe recorded names, not people alive today.
About the name Joseph
Joseph is from the Hebrew Yosef, meaning 'he will add.' It carries two major biblical figures, the dreamer with the coat and the husband of Mary, which kept it in constant use across both Jewish and Christian families.
Want to check a different name? Try the Name Rarity Checker. First names are only half the picture: the surname rarity checker runs the same math on last names, using the Census surname file.
Frequently asked questions
- How rare is the name Joseph?
- Joseph is in the Very Common tier. About 1 in 139 people share it, which is 0.718% of all recorded U.S. names, and it ranks 8th of all time. In total 2,672,746 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
- Is Joseph a rare name?
- No. Joseph is a well-known name rather than a rare one. It is in the Very Common tier, ranked 8th of all time, with about 1 in 139 people sharing it.
- How common is the name Joseph?
- About 1 in 139 people in U.S. records share the name Joseph, which is 0.718% of all recorded names and 8th of all time. That places it in the Very Common tier.
- Is Joseph a boy or girl name?
- In the records, Joseph is given almost entirely to boys. Of 2,672,746 people with the name, 10,706 were girls and 2,662,040 were boys.
- When was the name Joseph most popular?
- Joseph peaked in the 1980s. The bars on the card show its popularity for every decade from 1880 to 2024.