Meaning and history
Josiah comes from the Hebrew name יֹאשִׁיָהוּ (Yoshiyahu), meaning “Yahweh supports,” from אָשְׁיָה (ʾashya) meaning “support” and יָהּ (yah), a reference to the Hebrew God. In the Old Testament, it is the name of a king of Judah known for his religious reforms who was killed fighting the Egyptians at Megiddo in the 7th century BC. In England, the name came into use after the Protestant Reformation.
20062006: 3,649 births, rank #117
2007: 4,225 births, rank #105
2008: 4,785 births, rank #95
2009: 5,020 births, rank #86
2010: 5,210 births, rank #77
20112011: 5,274 births, rank #80
2012: 5,538 births, rank #79
2013: 6,316 births, rank #69
2014: 6,482 births, rank #64
2015: 6,677 births, rank #57
20162016: 7,025 births, rank #55
2017: 7,079 births, rank #51
2018: 6,684 births, rank #52
2019: 6,847 births, rank #45
2020: 6,164 births, rank #49
20212021: 6,157 births, rank #49
2022: 5,838 births, rank #51
2023: 5,445 births, rank #52
2024: 5,486 births, rank #53
20252025: 5,509 births, rank #54
Josiah has risen sharply in the modern US rankings, moving from #180 in 2000 to #54 in 2025. It now stands at #54 for boys. Its highest annual birth count came in 2017, with 7,079 births.