# Moshe (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/moshe/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “to give birth to” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmoʊʃɛ/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Moishy |
| Variant spellings | Moishe, Moses |
| US babies named this | 18,038 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 18,017 / 21 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 881, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew. Transliteration of Hebrew משה (moshé), sometimes conjectured to derive from Egyptian msj (“to give birth to”), a common element in Egyptian names of the form ‘[name of deity] is the one who bore him’.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 5 | 11,673 |
| 1993 | 5 | 15,001 |
| 1995 | 6 | 12,830 |
| 1996 | 5 | 15,076 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 472 | 542 |
| 2012 | 499 | 527 |
| 2013 | 511 | 519 |
| 2014 | 523 | 535 |
| 2015 | 533 | 536 |
| 2016 | 529 | 547 |
| 2017 | 536 | 528 |
| 2018 | 549 | 517 |
| 2019 | 555 | 513 |
| 2020 | 554 | 518 |
| 2021 | 626 | 477 |
| 2022 | 619 | 492 |
| 2023 | 667 | 459 |
| 2024 | 642 | 482 |
| 2025 | 728 | 436 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 33 | 878 |
| 2012 | 35 | 866 |
| 2013 | 26 | 1,044 |
| 2014 | 33 | 889 |
| 2015 | 22 | 1,186 |
| 2016 | 28 | 1,022 |
| 2017 | 32 | 943 |
| 2018 | 30 | 958 |
| 2019 | 34 | 874 |
| 2020 | 34 | 856 |
| 2021 | 35 | 871 |
| 2022 | 37 | 844 |
| 2023 | 36 | 874 |
| 2024 | 41 | 800 |
| 2025 | 52 | 687 |

## People named Moshe

- Moshe Katsav, 8th President of Israel (2000–2007)
- Moshe Sharett, 2nd Prime Minister of Israel from 1954 to 1955
- Moshe Levy, 12th Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1936–2008)
- Moshe Lewin, French historian (1921-2010)
- Moshe Weinberg, 1972 Munich massacre victim (1939–1972)
- Moshe Hirsch, anti-Zionist Jewish leader of Neturei Karta, rabbi
- Moshe Vardi, American computer scientist
- Moshe Marzouk, Egyptian spy (1926–1955)
- Moshe Reuven Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine
- Moshe Flinker, Dutch author (1926–1944)
- Nahmanides, 13th century Catalonian rabbi and scholar
- Moses Montefiore, British financier and Jewish activist (1784–1885)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.