Josiah

Josiah meaning

Josiah is an international and Christian boy's name of Hebrew origin.

"founded of Jah" (Strong's); "Yah supports" (BDB, NAS)

Also used to mean: god supports, god heals

Josiah comes from Hebrew Yoshiyyahu, the name of the king of Judah who came to the throne at eight years old and is remembered in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for repairing the Temple and reforming worship. Brown-Driver-Briggs and the NAS concordance read the name as 'Yah supports', while Strong's gives 'founded of Jah'. Baby-name lists mostly give 'God supports', which fits the lexicons; some also give 'God heals' or 'fire of the Lord', senses we did not find in them. Josiah is said joh-SY-uh and has a soft sound that works well with Indian surnames.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, H2977 · entry Yoshiyyahu · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's H2977, Yoshiyyahu (with BDB and NAS entries) · 2 Kings 22:1 · Wikipedia, Josiah Wedgwood

Famous namesakes

• Josiah, king of Judah in the 7th century BCE
• Josiah Wedgwood, English potter

Popularity abroad

• #54 United States, boys 2025 (down 1 from 53 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #226 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Josiah · Josias

Related names

Also meaning god

Also starting with Jos-

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