# Joseph (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/joseph/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 100,959 |
| US rank (2010) | 313 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,058 people |
| Change since 2000 | +26% (80,030 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒoʊsəf/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## 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.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Joseph in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 30% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 54% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 9.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.0% |
| Two or more races | 2.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Joseph in the United States, the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Canada, South Africa and Austria.

## People named Joseph

- Tyler Joseph, American singer, rapper and record producer
- Aubrey Joseph, American actor and rapper
- Bradley Joseph, American composer, pianist, keyboardist, arranger, producer, recording artist
- Kimberley Joseph, Australian film director
- Paterson Joseph, British actor
- Helen Joseph, British-born South African activist (1905-1992)
- Keith Joseph, British Conservative politician (1918–1994)
- Jackie Joseph, American actress
- Shahadi Wright Joseph, American actress, singer and dancer
- Ronald Joseph, American pair skater
- Vivian Joseph, American pair skater
- Max Joseph, American film director, film producer and film editor

and 9 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Jacob, Jacobo, Jacoby, Jessup, Jessop, Jacobi.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.