Josephine

What Josephine means

Feminine form of Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”

feminine form of Joseph || From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob.

Source: Wiktionary, “Josephine” (revision 93671847) and “Joseph” (revision 94596337), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Josephine?

US: Rising: up from #131 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #238 in 2015, #256 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1916, when 8,127 girls got the name (#21 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 390 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,392 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 2,236 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (15.4 per 1,000 girls), DC (12.88 per 1,000 girls), AK (10.89 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Josephine is #53 in the US and #256 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Josephine were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Josefine15 US
• Josaphine9 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Jo
• Joe

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Josephine

Girls

• Esme#298Diminutive of Esmeralda, meaning “emerald”^*
• Juliette#110Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #227 in 2015, #110 in 2025
• Sylvie#282Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,175 in 2015, #282 in 2025
• Eloise#49Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #254 in 2015, #49 in 2025. 6 letters, starting with a vowel
• Estelle#573“star”^*
• Lucille#237Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 7,989 babies; 1,314 in 2025

For a brother

• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*
• Julien#709Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #709 vs #3,256 in 2025
• Noel#478French, meaning “birthday of the Lord”^*
• Bo#449Swedish, from Old Norse Búi, meaning “dweller, long-time resident”^*
• Joan#984“God is gracious”^*
• Avery#291Editor’s note Down from #188 in 2015 to #291 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under French, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Josephine’s. Rank is US 2025.