Joshua (name)

This article is about the masculine given name "Joshua". For the Biblical figure, see Joshua.
Joshua

Joshua and the Israelite people by Karolingischer Buchmaler, c.840
Pronunciation /ˈdʒɒʃʊə/,[1]
Gender male
Origin
Word/name Hebrew Yehoshua
Meaning "Yahweh is salvation"
Other names
Related names Josh, Jesus, Josue
[2][3][4]
Look up Joshua in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Joshua is a Biblical given name derived from the Hebrew Yehoshua (יהושע). The name was a common alternative form of the name יֵשׁוּעַ – yēšūă which corresponds to the Greek spelling Iesous, from which, through the Latin Iesus, comes the English spelling Jesus.[5][6]

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.

Popularity

Joshua

Information from the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics from 2003 to 2007 shows "Joshua" among the top-five given names for newborn males.[7] 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.[8][9]

Instances of use

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.

Yehoshua

Ancient people whose names were certainly rendered in Hebrew are placed here regardless of the actual name currently attributed to them

BC 13th century people
BC 6th century people
BC 2nd century people
1st century people
3rd century people
6th century people
19th century people
20th century people

Joshua

14th century people
16th century people
17th century people
18th century people
19th century people
20th century people

Josh

20th and 21st century people

Fictional characters

See also

References and notes

  1. ↑ Joshua at Oxford Dictionaries Online
  2. ↑ A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament Francis Brown, with S.R. Driver and C.A. Briggs, based on the lexicon of William Gesenius. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 221 & 446
  3. ↑ Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for Yĕhowshuwa` (Strong's 03091)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996–2008. 16 Feb 2008. http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H3091
  4. ↑ Behind the name – Joshua- feminine form http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/39476
  5. ↑ Ilan, Tal (2002). Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity Part I: Palestine 330 BCE–200 CE (Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum 91). Tübingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr. p. 129.
  6. ↑ Stern, David (1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville, Maryland: Jewish New Testament Publications. pp. 4–5.
  7. ↑ "Top 100 names for baby boys in England and Wales". National Statistics Online. Office for National Statistics. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2008-02-17. (#2 2003–2005; #3 2006; #4 2007)
  8. ↑ "Top 100 boys' and names, Scotland, 2000 (provisional) – listed alphabetically" (PDF). Occasional papers. General Register Office for Scotland. 2000.
  9. ↑ "Top 100 boys' and names, Scotland, 2000 (provisional) – listed alphabetically" (PDF). Occasional papers. General Register Office for Scotland. 2006-12-18.
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