I have a bil and cousin in law named Joshua born in the early 90s and we we are Catholic. Great guys, great name

Elder millennials thru Boomers from NYC metro area will think it sounds like a “Jewish” name. But otherwise I don’t think it has that connotation anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Omg you guys.. Joshua is not exclusively Jewish. Yeshua sure. But Joshua is free for all.

It’s cute! Joshie!!

Agree, I grew up in a very rural town in the Midwest with exactly one Jewish family, and we had a lot of boys named Josh at school.

Omg you guys.. Joshua is not exclusively Jewish. Yeshua sure. But Joshua is free for all.

It’s cute! Joshie!!

Josh is fine. Kind of derpy but fine. Noah is much better.

Josh was a top 5 name when my son was born yet he never was in a class or on a team with another kid named Josh. (For additional context, this is in the dc metro area.)

In 2026, you really don’t need to worry about dozens of kids with the same name anymore—particularly if you live in a diverse area.

Imho Joshua/Josh is a solid name. Ditto for Noah (another name that is routinely in the top ten names yet you rarely run into one on the playground).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a fascinating thread - as a 40 something Jewish millennial I know dozens if not more Joshuas- including a brother, ex bf and half the kids at my jewish camp

Too common of a name to have any association with but apparently rare name outside the Jewish world

I grew up in cow country in the Mountain West through the 80s and knew at least 10 "Josh"s who were not Jewish. This thread is odd and feels like it has a hidden agenda within.

The OP just asked for opinions on the name Joshua. A previous poster came in and made it about religion/ethnicity by asking if they’re Jewish.

I swear this happens on every single thread about baby names on DCUM. There’s always going to be that one person that feels compelled to bring up ethnicity/race/religion for some reason.

Yeah, people do this on every post. On the recent Kieran post, there were people saying you have to be of Irish descent to name your son Kieran and telling OP not to name her son Kieran if he won’t be Irish. Just bizarre. I think it’s mostly people trying to get a reaction by saying outrageous things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a fascinating thread - as a 40 something Jewish millennial I know dozens if not more Joshuas- including a brother, ex bf and half the kids at my jewish camp

Too common of a name to have any association with but apparently rare name outside the Jewish world

I grew up in cow country in the Mountain West through the 80s and knew at least 10 "Josh"s who were not Jewish. This thread is odd and feels like it has a hidden agenda within.

The OP just asked for opinions on the name Joshua. A previous poster came in and made it about religion/ethnicity by asking if they’re Jewish.

I swear this happens on every single thread about baby names on DCUM. There’s always going to be that one person that feels compelled to bring up ethnicity/race/religion for some reason.

Joshua is a very nice name. Noah and Alexander are solid choices as well. I know a lovely sibling set named Joshua and Noah.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Stefan. 👏🏻 It’s so much better than Stephen or Stephan.

I hate having to guess how Stephen is pronounced when meeting one. Half of them pronounce it like Steven while the other half don’t.

I've never met a Stephen who pronounced their name like Stefan (Steff-an). Not even once actually, so I didn't know this could be a thing.

Well, there was Stef from "Pretty in Pink" but, yeah, he didn't make those guys run out and change the pronunciation of their names to Stefan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a fascinating thread - as a 40 something Jewish millennial I know dozens if not more Joshuas- including a brother, ex bf and half the kids at my jewish camp

Too common of a name to have any association with but apparently rare name outside the Jewish world

I knew many Millennials who were named Joshua. Most weren't Jewish as far as I could tell since thrir parents attended one church or another

I knew tons of Josh Millennials. Most weren't Jewish, but some were. It was a nice crossover name I think with broad appeal.

I would associate it with the late 80s babies though. I haven't met any Joshes that aren't millennials.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Stefan. 👏🏻 It’s so much better than Stephen or Stephan.

I hate having to guess how Stephen is pronounced when meeting one. Half of them pronounce it like Steven while the other half don’t.

I've never met a Stephen who pronounced their name like Stefan (Steff-an). Not even once actually, so I didn't know this could be a thing.

Anonymous wrote:Such a fascinating thread - as a 40 something Jewish millennial I know dozens if not more Joshuas- including a brother, ex bf and half the kids at my jewish camp

Too common of a name to have any association with but apparently rare name outside the Jewish world

I grew up in cow country in the Mountain West through the 80s and knew at least 10 "Josh"s who were not Jewish. This thread is odd and feels like it has a hidden agenda within.

Anonymous wrote:Such a fascinating thread - as a 40 something Jewish millennial I know dozens if not more Joshuas- including a brother, ex bf and half the kids at my jewish camp

Too common of a name to have any association with but apparently rare name outside the Jewish world

I knew many Millennials who were named Joshua. Most weren't Jewish as far as I could tell since thrir parents attended one church or another

Such a fascinating thread - as a 40 something Jewish millennial I know dozens if not more Joshuas- including a brother, ex bf and half the kids at my jewish camp

Too common of a name to have any association with but apparently rare name outside the Jewish world