Joshua | |
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Gender | male |
Origin | |
Word/Name | Hebrew Yehoshua |
Meaning | "Yahweh is salvation" |
Other names | |
Related names | Josh, Jesus, Josue |
[1][2] |
Joshua is a Biblical given name derived from the Hebrew Yehoshua (יהושע). Although it is often etymologized as related to the root for "salvation," e.g. as "Jehovah rescues" or "Jehovah is salvation".[1][2][3], the form of the word does not support this etymology. It is more likely Yeho-Shua, "YHWH's gift," with the same second element as Malki-Shua (1 Sam. 14:49), Bat-Shua (1 Chron. 3) and Avishua (1 Chron. 5:31).
As a result of the origin of the name, a majority of people before the 17th century who have this name are Jewish. A variant, truncated form of the name, Josh, gained popularity in the United States in the 1970s.
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"Joshua" appeared among the top-ten male given names for newborns from 1994–2008.[4] Information from Office for National Statistics from 2003 to 2007 shows "Joshua" among the top-five given names for newborn males.[5] In Scotland, the popularity of "Joshua" has been substantially lower than in the rest of the United Kingdom, appearing at rank 35 in 2000 and rising to rank 22 in 2006.[6][7]
Following is a short annotated list of persons, real and fictional, sharing "Joshua" or "Josh" or very rarely "Yehoshua" as a given name, representative of the breadth in geography and time of the names' use.
This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. |
Ancient people whose names were certainly rendered in Hebrew are placed here regardless of the actual name currently attributed to them
This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. |
This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. |