Male name
Josef
1,393 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 1999. Expression number: 1.
Origin
The name Josef derives from the Bible and was borrowed via the Latin name Iosephus and the Ancient Greek name Ιωσηφ (Iōsēph) from the Hebrew name יוֹסֵף (CHA: yōsēf) 'may Yahweh add [a son]' or "Yahweh has taken away my [Rachel's] disgrace". The first meaning given refers to the number of Jacob's children, whose eleventh son was named Joseph. However, Josef did not achieve its great spread as the name of the patriarch from the Old Testament, but as the name of Mary's husband. The first name became more frequently given in Germany from the 18th century onward. To this day it is regarded as a typically Catholic first name. It owes its popularity in Austria to the two emperors Joseph I and Joseph II.Translated by Arcanes from the German Wiktionary, entry “Josef”, text and translation under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 1999: 96 births. 1,393 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s and 2000s. It is still given: 61 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1999: 220 births. 9,158 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given steadily, decade after decade, from the 1970s to the 2010s. It really came into use around 1915. It is still given: 299 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 14,931* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Austria | 6,784 | 1984–2025 | 27th in 1984 |
| Berlin | 474 | 2012–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
1
initiative, independence, beginnings
1 + 6 + 1 + 5 + 6 = 19 → 1
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
11
intuition and inspiration (master number)
6 + 5 = 11
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
8
power, achievement, your relationship with money
1 + 1 + 6 = 8
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.