Joseph
Masculine · “He will add”
Joseph is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,669,490 boys against 10,723 girls since 1880. See Joseph as a girl name
Joseph came into English from Hebrew Yosef by way of Greek and Latin, and it has been spoken in this country without a break for as long as there have been records to keep. It is two syllables that end softly, with no hard consonant to land on. The same name, barely altered, has been carried by Austrian composers, Polish-British novelists and English physicists — it travels well and always has.
How old is the name Joseph?
Joseph was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Joseph alive today was born around 1963, making them about 62 years old. About 1,711,000 people named Joseph are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joseph most popular?
Joseph peaked in 1912, reaching #5 nationally. Today it ranks #29, 24 places below that high. See the whole 1912 chart.
Joseph appears on these lists:
- Names that never go out of style
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- Greatest Generation names (born 1901–1927)
- Silent Generation names (born 1928–1945)
- all guides
Works in French families too:
Where it comes from
From Yosef to Joseph
The story of Joseph
The name begins in Hebrew as Yosef, the son of Jacob and Rachel in Genesis. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Iōsēph, Latin took it as Ioseph, and from there it spread through every language Christianity reached — which is why the same name turns up as José in Spain, Giuseppe in Italy and Iosif in Russia. In medieval England it was used sparingly, then became a mainstay after the Reformation, when biblical names moved into ordinary family use. Arabic Yusuf comes from the same Hebrew source through a separate route, which is part of why this name is recognizable across so much of the world.
Meaning
He will add, or may God add
The Hebrew name Yosef comes from the root meaning to add or increase, and is generally read as a short wish: may he (God) add. The book of Genesis plays on two roots at once when Rachel names her son, pairing 'has taken away' with 'may the Lord add to me another son', which is why both ideas sometimes appear side by side in older reference books.
Cultural footprint
Joseph Haydn (b. 1732) — The father of the symphony
Joseph Conrad (b. 1857) — Wrote Heart of Darkness — in his third language
Joseph Smith (b. 1805) — Founded the Latter-day Saint movement
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Yosef
- Iōsēph
- Ioseph
- Joseph
Related forms: José · Giuseppe · Yosef · Józef · Yusuf · Seosamh
Pronouncing Joseph
JOH-səf
Stress falls on the first syllable. Many British speakers voice the middle consonant, closer to JOH-zəf; both are standard and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Joseph
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 195731,851 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #5reached in 1912
- Change vs 2022
- −6.8%7,303 in 2025, from 7,839
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Joseph in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- José in Spanish — same name
- Giuseppe in Italian — same name
- Yosef in Hebrew — transliteration
- Józef in Polish — same name
- Yusuf in Arabic — related form
- Seosamh in Irish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland, INSEE. Sources
Josephs among us
people named Joseph are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 234 born in 2025 was named Joseph
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Joseph has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Joseph is headed
Joseph should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Joseph beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Joseph in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way almost everyone expects on the first try, in English and beyond.
- Short forms are already made: Joe and Joey need no explanation to anyone.
- Charts in several English-speaking countries and in France, and has close cousins in Spanish, Italian, Polish and Arabic.
- A record with no gaps — it has been in continuous use across every shift in naming fashion.
- Works at every age, since it has been given to babies and worn by adults in unbroken succession.
- Joe is so widespread in English that it doubles as a generic stand-in — average Joe, a cup of joe. If you dislike that, expect to redirect people toward the full name.
- It is a shared name rather than a distinguishing one: a Joseph will meet other Josephs, and often other Joes, across school and working life.
- Travel and paperwork bring near-misses — Josef, José, Josephe — so the -ph spelling occasionally needs confirming.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Joseph
Masculine · #29 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Josephs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,711,000 people named Joseph are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Joseph in 2025?
- Joseph ranks #29 among US boy names in 2025, with 7,303 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Joseph?
- About 1 in every 234 US boys born in 2025 was named Joseph — 7,303 in all.
- Will my child share the name Joseph with classmates?
- Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Joseph.
Ranked beside Joseph
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Asher#28 · Alexander#30 · Cooper#27 · Owen#31 · Santiago#26 · Matthew#32 · Julian#25 · Luke#33
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joseph? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Joseph and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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