Archangel Michael appearing to Joshua, 18th century
Joshua is the very popular English form of Hebrew name Yehoshua (God is salvation). The original form of the Biblical Joshua’s name was Hoshea (salvation), from the root yasha. In its various forms, Joshua has long been common in the Jewish world, though it didn’t become common in the Anglophone world till the Protestant Reformation.
The name was #211 in the U.S. in 1880, when records began being kept, and was consistently low-ranking during the ensuing decades. Its lowest position was #729 in 1929. Then, in the Fifties, Joshua began slowly creeping up the charts, and went from #530 in 1951 to #79 in 1971. Some years it jumped more than fifty ranks. It entered the Top 10 in 1979, at #9, and stayed in the Top 10 till 2009. In 2018, it was #41, part of a slow downward drop.
Joshua is also popular in England and Wales (#15), New Zealand (#20), Scotland (#30), Ireland (#50), and The Netherlands (#91).
Self-portrait of British painter Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–92), ca. 1748
Other forms of the name include:
1. Jozua is Dutch.
2. Józsua is Hungarian.
3. Ikoua is Hawaiian.
4. Giosuè is Italian and Sicilian.
5. Josu is Basque.
6. Josué is French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The variant Josuè is Catalan.
7. Xesús is Galician.
8. Isa is Arabic. Alternate transliterations are Essa and Issa. The variant form İsa is Turkish.
9. Yusha is also Arabic.
10. Jesús is Spanish. As odd as this name looks on a normal person in English, the J is pronounced like an H. It’s very common in the Spanish-speaking world, not considered sacrilegious like it is in English and many other languages. Most languages keep the names Jesus and Joshua separate for that very reason.
Joshua Slocum (1844–1909), first person to sail alone around the world
11. Iyassu is Ethiopian.
12. Joosua is Finnish.
13. Joschua is German.
14. Josua is also German. The alternate form Jošua is Croatian.
15. Josuo is Esperanto.
16. Josva is Danish and Norwegian.
17. Jozue is Czech and Slovak, typically only used in reference to the Biblical Joshua. This form is also Slovenian and Polish. The alternate form Jozuė is Lithuanian.
18, Xosué is Galician.
19. Isus is Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Serbian.
20. Iisus is Russian and Chuvash.
U.S. baseball player Josh Gibson (1911–1947), widely considered one of the best power hitters and catchers in history
21. Iosua is Romanian. The alternate form Iósua is Irish.
22. Yushai is Chechen.
23. Yoşua is Azeri
24. Yuşa is Turkish.
25. Yoshua is Swahili.
26. Josoa is Malagasy.
27. Isu is Georgian.
Female forms:
1. Jesusa is Spanish.
2. Josune is Basque.
3. Joshuelle is a rare English form. I strongly dislike this name! It looks and sounds like a forced feminisation of a name that already doesn’t lend itself well to feminine forms.
4. Joshuette is another rare English form. I’m not a fan of this one either.
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