Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Joseph?
Births per year, rank history and how many Josephs are alive today.
Joseph (male) is currently the 56th most popular boys' name in England and Wales, with 946 babies given the name in 2024. The name peaked in 1904, when around 11,100 babies were given the name, the 13th most popular that year. Joseph's popularity is double-peaked: popular in the 1910s and stronger still at its peak in the 2000s. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 140,000 babies have been named Joseph in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Common short forms of Joseph include Joe and Joey.
The Joseph you are most likely to meet is around 30 years old. Half of all Josephs born in England and Wales are between 22 and 55, and there are at least 220,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 52% chance that at least one of them will be called Joseph.
How many babies are named Joseph each year?
Where does Joseph 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 Joseph most popular?
Joseph peaked in 1904, when around 11,100 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Joseph?
At least 220,000 people named Joseph born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Joseph?
Most living Josephs are between 22 and 55; the most common age is about 30.
Is Joseph becoming more or less popular?
Remarkably steady: it has stayed in the top 100 throughout the records.