By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal
footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.
Where Joseph is most popular
Boys named Joseph per 1,000 boys born in
each state, 2021–2025. National average: 4.38 per 1,000.
Strongest in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wyoming.
Vs national average well below below near national above well above no data
All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Joseph born
2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes
comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.
| State | Boys 2021–2025 | Per 1,000 | vs national |
| New Jersey | 1,951 | 9.69 | +121% |
| Connecticut | 636 | 9.39 | +114% |
| Wyoming | 50 | 8.64 | +97% |
| Vermont | 54 | 8.60 | +96% |
| Rhode Island | 139 | 8.53 | +95% |
| New York | 3,577 | 8.26 | +89% |
| District of Columbia | 119 | 8.06 | +84% |
| Delaware | 118 | 7.78 | +78% |
| Massachusetts | 993 | 7.22 | +65% |
| Alaska | 84 | 7.05 | +61% |
| New Hampshire | 156 | 7.03 | +60% |
| Pennsylvania | 1,773 | 6.68 | +52% |
| New Mexico | 202 | 6.13 | +40% |
| Louisiana | 610 | 5.96 | +36% |
| Hawaii | 91 | 5.86 | +34% |
| Maine | 112 | 5.77 | +32% |
| North Dakota | 98 | 5.74 | +31% |
| South Carolina | 591 | 5.72 | +31% |
| Maryland | 679 | 5.69 | +30% |
| Montana | 96 | 5.44 | +24% |
| Virginia | 1,009 | 5.32 | +21% |
| Kansas | 364 | 5.31 | +21% |
| West Virginia | 171 | 5.24 | +20% |
| Illinois | 1,336 | 5.23 | +19% |
| Kentucky | 524 | 5.22 | +19% |
| Alabama | 561 | 5.13 | +17% |
| Ohio | 1,360 | 5.13 | +17% |
| Michigan | 1,032 | 5.04 | +15% |
| Mississippi | 281 | 4.95 | +13% |
| Missouri | 668 | 4.82 | +10% |
| Indiana | 772 | 4.81 | +10% |
| Nebraska | 205 | 4.71 | +8% |
| Florida | 2,140 | 4.52 | ≈ national |
| Wisconsin | 526 | 4.44 | ≈ national |
| North Carolina | 1,121 | 4.39 | ≈ national |
| Arizona | 710 | 4.34 | ≈ national |
| Georgia | 1,084 | 4.28 | ≈ national |
| California | 3,890 | 4.26 | ≈ national |
| Minnesota | 518 | 4.22 | ≈ national |
| Tennessee | 759 | 4.20 | ≈ national |
| South Dakota | 78 | 4.19 | ≈ national |
| Colorado | 541 | 4.19 | ≈ national |
| Washington | 682 | 4.17 | -5% |
| Nevada | 236 | 4.14 | -6% |
| Arkansas | 257 | 4.06 | -7% |
| Oregon | 308 | 4.06 | -7% |
| Oklahoma | 357 | 4.04 | -8% |
| Iowa | 277 | 4.02 | -8% |
| Texas | 3,507 | 3.98 | -9% |
| Idaho | 151 | 3.69 | -16% |
| Utah | 294 | 3.08 | -30% |
State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any
state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.
The story of Joseph
Joseph is a top-50 name for boys in the United States, ranked #29 in 2025 with 7,303 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.
Since 1880, 2,680,213 American babies have been named Joseph. Its peak came in 1956, when 32,832 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1950s.
The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Joseph stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.
