Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Joe?
Births per year, rank history and how many Joes are alive today.
Joe (male), once a common boys' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 687th in 2025 with 52 given the name. The name peaked in 1996, when 1,567 babies were given the name, the 50th most popular that year. It has declined since 1996; the 2025 figure is roughly 3% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 29,000 babies have been named Joe in England and Wales since the 1980s. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Joe is also a common short form of Joseph, so many people called Joe are registered under the longer name.
The Joe you are most likely to meet is around 31 years old. Half of all Joes born in England and Wales are between 21 and 32, and there are at least 28,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly an 8.8% chance that at least one of them will be called Joe.
How many babies are named Joe each year?
Where does Joe rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Joe most popular?
Joe peaked in 1996, when 1,567 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Joe?
At least 28,000 people named Joe born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Joe?
Most living Joes are between 21 and 32; the most common age is about 31.
Is Joe becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1996 peak.