Josephus
Josephus is absent from the 2024 data, which means fewer than five births. Its best rank was 825th, in 1897.
- Rank in 2024
- —fewer than 5 births
- Births in 2024
- 0not in the data
- Peak year
- 192328 births
- Best rank
- #825in 1897
- Since 1882
- 1,211people given the name
The story in the numbers
1,211 boys have been named Josephus in the United States since 1882, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1923, with 28 births.
The name has all but left use: none recorded in 2024, against 28 at the peak.
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1941, and the 1920s alone account for 17%. It has spent 7 of 145 years in the top 1,000.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Josephus | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 35 | |
| 1890s | 24 | |
| 1900s | 18 | |
| 1910s | 143 | |
| 1920s | 206 | |
| 1930s | 156 | |
| 1940s | 157 | |
| 1950s | 140 | |
| 1960s | 94 | |
| 1970s | 89 | |
| 1980s | 59 | |
| 1990s | 46 | |
| 2000s | 21 | |
| 2010s | 12 | |
| 2020s | 11 |
In 1923, its biggest year
Josephus was outside the top 1,000 that year. The top five boys’ names of 1923 were John, Robert, William, James and Charles. See all of 1923.
Names that rose and fell with Josephus
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Godfreypeak 1918
- Llewellynpeak 1916
- Starlingpeak 1920
- Manleypeak 1927
- Gilespeak 1918
- Thorntonpeak 1921
- Howellpeak 1920
- Lewispeak 1921
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.