What do people think of the baby name Josh?

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Thoughts on the name Josh? Not for me, but for my sister. She asked me to post it!!

A bit dated.

We say "they were just joshing", for mucking about.

I have a Joshua (known as Josh) so I may be biased but I think it’s the best name. It does seem to be quite popular though, I know an increasing number of them.

I love it.

Short for Joshua. I love it. Cute, cool, biblical.

But 30 years ago I worked with US teenagers and every second boy was called Josh, so I imagine USA is full of middle aged Joshes now, if that makes any difference. Still relatively rare in UK, though.

I would advise she puts Joshua on the birth certificate. Josh is quite limiting. I would say the same about Sam, Tom, Matt etc.

I like Joshua.

Josh/Joshua is definitely not 'relatively rare'. It was a top 10 name from the late 90s and throughout the 00s in England and Wales, so there are loads of teen and 20 somethings called Josh over here now.

It's less popular than it was, but definitely not rare.

I like it .
However I didn't like the way Rachel pronounced Joshua in Friends.

It's fine. #53 in 2025. Was very popular in the 1990s and 2000s.
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@CypressMoon ,definitely not rare in the UK.

I was born late 90s and there were loads of boys called Josh when I was at school. Half of our school year were Ben, Sam, Josh or Matt (pretty sure all of them were Benjamin, Samuel, Joshua and Matthew, though).

I like Joshua but don't like Josh at all. Just sounds like squash to me and a bit of a 'nothing' name. I feel Joshua has more to it, but would obviously be shortened.

I love Joshua (husband didn’t like it so couldn’t use it).
it was popular when I was at school

Not going to lie, it’s so long since I’ve seen a person with this nickname that my first thought now is Rogan Josh. It is a good curry to be named after though. I feel differently about Joshua though, that still feels like a classic.

I have a Josh

Full name Joshua,but he hates being called that

Nickname 'j' (I only call him Joshua when he's in trouble!)

I'd never met a Joshua before and as soon as I named him,every bugger seemed to call their sons Josh(he was 1 out of 6 Joshua's in his class)

He was born 2000 so names have moved on since

It's a refreshing change to all the noah's and max's of today

A timeless classic

V v boring: usually has a sister called Isabelle

Never been one of my favourites, so sorry to me it is lack of imagination and a boring name. But if she likes it she should trust herself and not listen to people online.

Isabelle is a beautiful name.
A traditional name.

Still lots of Joshua/Joshs at my secondary, sometimes multiple in a class.

It is past its Zennial peak, but a classic name that will always be familiar and cycle in and out.

Josh is very boring and a little dated. I also don’t like how it sounds - too much dsh and sh

I disagree about Isabelle - that French spelling and pronunciation is beautiful

It cant be just Josh, everyone will assume it's Joshua.

I know a 6 you Joshie/Joshua, it's nice, classic perfectly fine

I really like it short for Joshua

It isn't. It's the French form of Elizabeth. Baby names since 1904: how has yours performed? - Office for National Statistics
Not much used in the UK until the 1990s.

Love it but reminds me of Cold Feet .

Only if short for Joshua. Josh on its own is a verb not a name.

I have never met a mean Josh.