Given name
Moishe
Moishe is a masculine given name from Yiddish, ultimately from Hebrew.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Moishe shares an earlier linguistic root with Moses. A possible origin is Egyptian, although the derivation remains uncertain.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English usage, Moishe developed from משה.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1950. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Moishe shares an earlier linguistic root with Moses. The history of Moses gives this family its wider story. Moses appears in biblical tradition, giving it a longstanding religious and cultural context.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Moishe through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,201
- 1,201 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2015
- 38 babies
- 2025
- 28
- #3,915 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +35%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 28 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,915 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 35.4% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 38 in 2015. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 933 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Moishe’s family of names
Moishe shares a linguistic root with Moses. In English usage, Moishe was borrowed from the Yiddish form משה. In English usage, Moishe developed from the Hebrew form משה.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 26
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Musaequivalent
- Mosescognate
- Moisesequivalent
- Moussaequivalent
- Mousaequivalent
- Moiseequivalent
- Mozesequivalent
- Moshehequivalent
Show 18 moreShow fewer
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Moishe
- Moishe OysherJewish American actor and cantor (1907–1958)1906–1958
- Moishe PostoneAmerican historian, Thomas E. Donnelley Professor of Modern History and the College, University of Chicago (1942–2018)
- Moyshe AltmanYiddish writer (1890–1981)
- Moishe BroderzonPolish Jewish poet and theatre director (1890-1956)
- Morris LevyAmerican gangster and con artist in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry (1927-1990)
- Moishe LowtzkyUkrainian-Polish chess player1881–1940
- Moishe ZilberfarbUkrainian politician (1876–1934)
- Moishe RosenAmerican minister and founder of Jews for Jesus (1932–2010)
- Moshe Friedmanrabbiborn 1972
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Moishe, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Sampson
Sampson is a masculine given name from Hebrew. It is used in English and Middle English.
>99% boys
Thomson
“twin”
>99% boys
Mordecai
“devotee of the god Marduk” · “a servant of Marduk, a Babylonian god”
>99% boys
Cain
“craftsman”
>99% boys
Zacharias
“The Lord remembers”
>99% boys
Lazar
“leper”
>99% boys
Elnathan
“God has given”
>99% boys
Avel
“the life force; breath”
>99% boys
Sibling ideas
Names that share Moishe’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.
A sister for Moishe