Fun Facts About the Name Yosef
- More than 10 thousand babies named Yosef: U.S. records list 10,605 babies given the name Yosef from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Yosef Mean?
Yosef is the Hebrew form of the name that appears in English as Joseph. It is built on the Hebrew root y-s-p (יסף), "to add," and its usual sense is "he will add" or "may he add." The Hebrew Bible gives its own explanation of the name at Joseph's birth in Genesis 30:24, where Rachel says yosef YHWH li ben acher - "May the LORD add to me another son." A nearby wordplay in Genesis 30:23 links the sound of the name to asaf, "to take away," when Rachel speaks of God removing her disgrace; the two roots sound alike, but the name itself comes from yasaf, "to add."
Because the name contains no element naming God, some scholars have suggested that Yosef is a shortened form of a longer theophoric name meaning roughly "may God add." That remains a proposal rather than a settled point, since the biblical text gives only the short form.
Yosef Name History & Origins
Yosef is the name of the patriarch Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, whose story is told in Genesis 37 - 50, and of the Israelite tribe reckoned to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. In the New Testament the same Greek form Iōsēph belongs to Joseph the husband of Mary and to Joseph of Arimathea.
The Hebrew name passed into Greek as Ἰωσήφ (Iōsēph) in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, and from Greek into Latin as Ioseph. Latin carried it into the languages of Europe, where it became English Joseph, Spanish José, Italian Giuseppe, and French Joseph. Hebrew speakers kept Yosef itself; rabbinic literature records both Yosef and the shortened Yose (also written Yosei), and modern Hebrew uses Yosef, often shortened to the nickname Yossi. Arabic has the related form Yusuf, the title of the Quran's twelfth chapter, which retells the Joseph story.
How Popular is the Name Yosef?
Yosef recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2024. Its best rank was #611 in 2024.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #665 | 413 | 0.0242% |
| 2024 | #611 | 466 | 0.0272% |
| 2023 | #617 | 453 | 0.0265% |
| 2022 | #655 | 420 | 0.0241% |
| 2021 | #663 | 410 | 0.0235% |
| 2020 | #679 | 379 | 0.0220% |
| 2019 | #669 | 393 | 0.0219% |
| 2018 | #686 | 356 | 0.0196% |
| 2017 | #674 | 377 | 0.0204% |
| 2016 | #680 | 370 | 0.0195% |
| 2015 | #709 | 353 | 0.0184% |
| 2014 | #691 | 362 | 0.0188% |
| 2013 | #678 | 356 | 0.0188% |
| 2012 | #688 | 346 | 0.0182% |
| 2011 | #753 | 301 | 0.0159% |
| 2010 | #778 | 287 | 0.0150% |
| 2009 | #750 | 306 | 0.0154% |
| 2008 | #885 | 238 | 0.0117% |
| 2007 | #824 | 261 | 0.0126% |
| 2006 | #858 | 234 | 0.0114% |
| 2005 | #779 | 253 | 0.0127% |
| 2004 | #836 | 213 | 0.0107% |
| 2003 | #922 | 179 | 0.0091% |
| 2002 | #831 | 201 | 0.0104% |
| 2001 | #940 | 166 | 0.0085% |
| 2000 | #1,024 | 143 | 0.0073% |
| 1999 | #858 | 177 | 0.0092% |
| 1998 | #1,038 | 131 | 0.0069% |
| 1997 | #1,168 | 104 | 0.0055% |
| 1996 | #1,100 | 110 | 0.0058% |
| 1995 | #1,158 | 99 | 0.0052% |
| 1994 | #1,016 | 120 | 0.0062% |
| 1993 | #999 | 120 | 0.0061% |
| 1992 | #1,148 | 93 | 0.0047% |
| 1991 | #1,094 | 100 | 0.0049% |
| 1990 | #1,110 | 94 | 0.0046% |
| 1989 | #984 | 108 | 0.0054% |
| 1988 | #1,040 | 91 | 0.0048% |
| 1987 | #1,066 | 81 | 0.0043% |
| 1986 | #1,087 | 75 | 0.0041% |
| 1985 | #1,049 | 78 | 0.0042% |
| 1984 | #1,095 | 68 | 0.0038% |
| 1983 | #1,106 | 66 | 0.0037% |
| 1982 | #1,595 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1981 | #1,206 | 58 | 0.0032% |
| 1980 | #1,474 | 43 | 0.0024% |
| 1979 | #1,389 | 46 | 0.0027% |
| 1978 | #1,285 | 50 | 0.0030% |
| 1977 | #1,367 | 45 | 0.0027% |
| 1976 | #1,451 | 39 | 0.0025% |
| 1975 | #1,427 | 39 | 0.0025% |
| 1974 | #1,832 | 26 | 0.0017% |
| 1973 | #1,434 | 36 | 0.0023% |
| 1972 | #1,600 | 30 | 0.0018% |
| 1971 | #1,861 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 1970 | #2,397 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1969 | #1,860 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1968 | #2,311 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1967 | #3,553 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1966 | #3,534 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1965 | #3,536 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1964 | #4,035 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #3,302 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1961 | #3,095 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1960 | #2,534 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1959 | #3,036 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1958 | #2,640 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1957 | #3,993 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1956 | #3,212 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1955 | #2,760 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1954 | #3,451 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1953 | #3,142 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1952 | #3,370 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1951 | #3,707 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Yosef Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual. You hate bondage in any form. You have love of beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You are willing to take spiritual matters on faith instead of subjecting them to mental analysis. You are inventive, intuitive and extremely methodical. Since your will is so strong, you are hard to convince. You also dislike advice. You love beauty and philosophy, and you desire achievement. You have a strong need for freedom - physical, mental and spiritual.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Yosef's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Yosef's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.