How common of a name is Yoshi(ro) in Japan?

I work with a man named Yoshiro now, who goes by Yoshi (for short? to not scare Americans? I don't know). It got me thinking about how Yoshi, of Nintendo fame, and how he has a human name. I'm wondering if Yoshi is named the Japanese equivalent of like, John, and if not, what connotations his name has, and what a western equivalent might be.