Yusuf
Masculine · “God will add”
Yusuf is the Arabic form of a name the Hebrew Bible gave to Jacob's eleventh son, and the Quran gives an entire chapter of its own. It has been said aloud in Cairo, Istanbul, Sarajevo, Jakarta and Lagos for well over a thousand years, and it arrives in English with its two soft syllables intact — nothing to trim, nothing to explain about the sound itself.
How old is the name Yusuf?
Yusuf first appears in US birth records in 1949 — 76 years ago. The typical Yusuf is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 11,500 people named Yusuf are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yusuf most popular?
Yusuf peaked in 2025, reaching #449 nationally. Today it ranks #449, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Yusuf appears on these lists:
- British invasion: UK favorites still rare in the US
- Arabic names in American use
- Turkish and Armenian names in American use
- all guides
Works in Arabic families too:
Where it comes from
From Yosef to Yusuf
The story of Yusuf
The name begins as Hebrew Yosef, borne by the son of Jacob whose story of the coat, the pit and the Egyptian court runs through the book of Genesis. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Iōsēph, which became Latin Ioseph and English Joseph; Arabic kept closer to the original consonants and produced Yusuf. The twelfth sura of the Quran, seventh century, is named Surat Yusuf and retells his life as a single continuous narrative, which is why the name spread with Islam far beyond Arabic — into Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Bosnian, Somali, Swahili and Malay. It reached the United States by many separate roads, carried by families from all of those places, and has been steadily gaining ground here in recent decades.
Meaning
God will add, or he shall add
From Hebrew Yosef, tied in Genesis to Rachel's wish for another son. The Arabic Yusuf carries the same sense through.
How the name formed
- Yosef
- Iōsēph
- Yusuf
Related forms: يوسف (Yusuf) · Yusuf · Yousef · Jusuf · Yosef · Joseph
Pronouncing Yusuf
YOO-suf
Arabic and Turkish speakers often put more weight on the second syllable, closer to yoo-SOOF, and lengthen it. Both are correct; families usually pick one and stay with it.
Nicknames for Yusuf
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
- 1949
- Most boys named
- 2025698 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #449reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +8.0%698 in 2025, from 646
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.
Yusuf in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- يوسف (Yusuf) in Arabic — transliteration
- Yusuf in Turkish — same name
- Yousef in Persian — spelling variant
- Jusuf in Bosnian — related form
- Yosef in Hebrew — related form
- Joseph in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas. International figures from Office for National Statistics. Sources
Yusufs among us
people named Yusuf are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,447 born in 2025 was named Yusuf
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Eddy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yusuf's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Eddy climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Eddy's path sketches the road Yusuf is walking now.
Yusuf is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Yusuf is headed
Yusuf 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.
Yusuf beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yusuf in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognized on sight across the Arabic-speaking world, Turkey, the Balkans, South Asia, East Africa and Southeast Asia — one of the most widely traveled names there is.
- Yusuf is the standard transliteration and the one most English speakers have encountered, so it is easier to hold than Youssef or Yousuf.
- Two syllables, no silent letters, no consonant clusters — it survives being said quickly by a substitute teacher.
- Connects directly to Joseph, giving a familiar English cousin without needing to change the name itself.
- The spellings Youssef, Yousef, Yusef and Yousuf all belong to the same name, and people who know one will default to it. Expect a lifetime of spelling it out, in a friendly way, at the pharmacy counter.
- Stress is the real variable, not the letters: relatives may say yoo-SOOF while classmates say YOO-suf. Worth deciding early which one you correct people toward.
- Some acquaintances will reach for Joe as a shortcut. That suits some families and not others, and it is easier to head off than to undo.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Yusuf to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Yusuf? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Yusuf
Masculine · #449 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yusufs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,500 people named Yusuf are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Yusuf in 2025?
- Yusuf ranks #449 among US boy names in 2025, with 698 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yusuf?
- About 1 in every 2,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Yusuf — 698 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yusuf with classmates?
- Yusuf will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yusuf
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bo#449 · Dalton#448 · Prince#447 · Kane#451 · Rome#452 · Apollo#445 · Karson#453 · Uriel#445
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yusuf? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yusuf and another name?
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Which one would you pick?
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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