Thirty years of Joshua
Joshua in numbers
Joshua peaked in 2003 with 8,190 boys and has fallen since, to 938 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 2004 and 2007, from 7,823 to 6,038. It ranked 5th in 1996, reached 2nd in 2002 and ranks 53rd now. On average it was given to 7,633 boys a year in the late 1990s, 6,943 in the 2000s, 3,766 in the 2010s and 1,418 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-9%1,027 to 938
- 5 years-53%1,989 to 938
- 10 years-72%3,394 to 938
- 20 years-87%7,167 to 938
- Since 1996-88%7,887 to 938
- Total, 1996 to 2025146,127boys
† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.
Across the three nations, 2025
Each from its own statistics office, never added togetherRank 53 · ONS · 1,027 in 2024
Rank 75 · NRS · 82 in 2024
Rank 55 · NISRA · 41 in 2024
England and Wales (ONS) count births in the calendar year; Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland (NISRA) count births registered in the year. Each comes from its own statistics office and they are never added together.
Year by year, 1996 to 2025 Show all 30 yearsHide the table
| Year | Rank | Babies | Change† | 1 in X† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 53 | 938 | -9% | 1 in 321 |
| 2024 | 50 | 1,027 | -23% | 1 in 297 |
| 2023 | 40 | 1,339 | -9% | 1 in 226 |
| 2022 | 35 | 1,478 | -15% | 1 in 210 |
| 2021 | 31 | 1,737 | -13% | 1 in 184 |
| 2020 | 23 | 1,989 | -19% | 1 in 158 |
| 2019 | 20 | 2,450 | -16% | 1 in 134 |
| 2018 | 17 | 2,922 | -8% | 1 in 116 |
| 2017 | 15 | 3,166 | -9% | 1 in 110 |
| 2016 * | 16 | 3,495 | +3% | 1 in 102 |
| 2015 | 16 | 3,394 | -11% | 1 in 106 |
| 2014 | 13 | 3,812 | -4% | 1 in 94 |
| 2013 | 12 | 3,973 | -11% | 1 in 90 |
| 2012 | 11 | 4,444 | -7% | 1 in 84 |
| 2011 | 9 | 4,786 | -8% | 1 in 78 |
| 2010 | 8 | 5,217 | -6% | 1 in 71 |
| 2009 | 5 | 5,526 | -3% | 1 in 66 |
| 2008 | 5 | 5,716 | -5% | 1 in 63 |
| 2007 | 4 | 6,038 | -7% | 1 in 59 |
| 2006 | 3 | 6,519 | -9% | 1 in 53 |
| 2005 | 2 | 7,167 | -8% | 1 in 46 |
| 2004 | 2 | 7,823 | -4% | 1 in 42 |
| 2003 | 2 | 8,190 | +0% | 1 in 39 |
| 2002 | 2 | 8,170 | +14% | 1 in 37 |
| 2001 | 3 | 7,182 | +1% | 1 in 42 |
| 2000 | 4 | 7,097 | -2% | 1 in 44 |
| 1999 | 4 | 7,275 | -5% | 1 in 44 |
| 1998 | 5 | 7,672 | -0% | 1 in 42 |
| 1997 | 5 | 7,698 | -2% | 1 in 43 |
| 1996 | 5 | 7,887 | 1 in 42 |
* ONS’s boys’ 2016 file repeats the October total as September, so the 2016 births total is about 932 too low and 1 in X for 2016 is slightly too low. Rank follows ONS: names with the same count share a rank (shown with =). “Under 3” means the name was given to fewer than 3 babies that year, so ONS did not publish it.
Compare Joshua
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Joshua is in the free dataset (CSV and JSON), with the method and how to cite it.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; National Records of Scotland; NISRA. Exact spellings are counted separately and names given to fewer than 3 babies are not published. Figures marked † are Baby Data calculations. How we calculate