Never met a josh I liked so...

Anonymous wrote:It's a nice name, but I find it slightly whiny. Hard to explain. Josh is fine.

Yeah, Joshua feels a little nerdy and overly formal to me. It feels like the kid that would tell you obscure historical facts about world wars totally unsolicited in 3rd-5th grade.

It's a nice name, but I find it slightly whiny. Hard to explain. Josh is fine.

Love love love Joshua

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Are you Jewish?

We’re not.

Oh - it’s definitely a Jewish name

I think American Jews are opting for more recognizably Jewish names for our kids these days. Names like Joshua, David, and Michael have become more ambiguous and associated with Christianity, so they’re less used.

I can’t say that I’ve met any Jewish Joshuas born within the last 25 years.

I’m Jewish and know many Joshuas, and they are all over 25. Michael and David were incredibly popular names for baby boys in the 60’s and 70’s. Michael annd David necessarily Jewish. I’m married to a non-Jewish Michael and went to school with many non-Jewish Michaels and Davids.

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).

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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.

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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.