# Joseph (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/joseph/  
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 | “(god) shall add”, “one whose chastity is above temptation” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒoʊsəf/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Joss, Jos, Joie, Joby, Jo, Joe, Joey |
| Variant spellings | Josef |
| US babies named this | 2,680,213 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,669,490 / 10,723 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 103,070, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. Noun sense 1 (“one whose chastity is above temptation”) is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 23 | 5,828 |
| 2012 | 16 | 7,618 |
| 2013 | 20 | 6,353 |
| 2014 | 6 | 15,505 |
| 2015 | 12 | 9,203 |
| 2016 | 13 | 8,611 |
| 2017 | 19 | 6,397 |
| 2018 | 15 | 7,558 |
| 2019 | 16 | 7,169 |
| 2020 | 9 | 10,659 |
| 2021 | 8 | 11,594 |
| 2022 | 9 | 10,764 |
| 2023 | 12 | 8,707 |
| 2024 | 5 | 16,373 |
| 2025 | 12 | 8,591 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 12,995 | 22 |
| 2012 | 12,594 | 19 |
| 2013 | 12,278 | 20 |
| 2014 | 12,155 | 20 |
| 2015 | 11,531 | 21 |
| 2016 | 10,969 | 20 |
| 2017 | 10,488 | 18 |
| 2018 | 9,682 | 23 |
| 2019 | 9,179 | 24 |
| 2020 | 8,486 | 26 |
| 2021 | 8,166 | 28 |
| 2022 | 7,839 | 30 |
| 2023 | 7,279 | 29 |
| 2024 | 7,261 | 32 |
| 2025 | 7,303 | 29 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3,089 | 18 |
| 2012 | 3,074 | 22 |
| 2013 | 3,225 | 19 |
| 2014 | 3,041 | 19 |
| 2015 | 2,786 | 21 |
| 2016 | 2,506 | 22 |
| 2017 | 2,153 | 28 |
| 2018 | 1,989 | 27 |
| 2019 | 1,678 | 34 |
| 2020 | 1,437 | 38 |
| 2021 | 1,307 | 46 |
| 2022 | 1,158 | 50 |
| 2023 | 994 | 54 |
| 2024 | 946 | 56 |
| 2025 | 811 | 59 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: يُوسُف, جوزيف
- Armenian: Հովսեփ, Ջոզեֆ, Յուսուֆ, Իոսիֆ
- Bulgarian: Йо́сиф, Юсу́ф, Джо́узеф
- Catalan: Josep
- Chinese: 約瑟夫 /约瑟夫
- Czech: Josef
- Danish: Josef
- Dutch: Jozef, Josef
- Esperanto: Jozefo
- Estonian: Joosep
- Finnish: Jooseppi
- French: Joseph, José
- Georgian: იოსები, იუსუფ
- German: Josef, Joseph
- Greek: Ιώσηπος, Ιωσήφ
- Hebrew: יוֹסֵף, ג׳וזף
- Hindi: यूसुफ़, जोसेफ़
- Hungarian: József
- Icelandic: Jósef
- Indonesian: Yusuf

## People named Joseph

- Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (1732–1809)
- Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (1768 – 1830)
- Joseph John Thomson, British physicist (1856-1940)
- Joseph Smith, American religious leader and founder of the Latter Day Saint movement (1805–1844)
- Franz Joseph I of Austria, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (1830–1916)
- Joseph Priestley, English chemist, theologian, educator, and political theorist (1733–1804)
- Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright and politician (1672–1719)
- Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (1778–1850)
- Joseph Lister, British surgeon and antiseptic pioneer (1827–1912)
- Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian political economist (1883–1950)
- Joseph McCarthy, American politician (1908–1957)
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor and filmmaker (born 1981)

## 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.