Female name
Josephine
6,071 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 1997. Expression number: 11.
Origin
From French Joséphine, diminutive of Josèphe, feminine form of Joseph. By surface analysis, Joseph + -ine. Popularized in English by Josephine Bonaparte, the empress of Napoleonic France.From Wiktionary, entry “Josephine”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Josephine?
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 1997: 269 births. 6,071 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is still given: 872 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 1918: 8,709 births. 332,458 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and 2020s. At its peak, it ranked 21st among girls' names in 1916. It is still given: 17,924 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 1964: 287 births. 3,505 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. At its peak, it ranked 25th among girls' names in 1964. It is still given: 35 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 99,575 | 1900–2025 | 13th in 1900 |
| Switzerland | 2,034* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Berlin | 1,065 | 2012–2023 | 34th in 2012 |
| Austria | 738 | 1984–2025 | 97th in 2022 |
| Quebec | 574 | 1980–2025 | — |
| Belgium | 219 | 2014–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first); Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; Statbel, first names of newborns, CC BY 4.0 (one total for the whole period, no yearly breakdown).
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.
11
intuition and inspiration (master number)
1 + 6 + 1 + 5 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 5 + 5 = 47 → 11
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
7
reflection, inner life, seeking
6 + 5 + 9 + 5 = 25 → 7
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
22
the large-scale builder (master number)
1 + 1 + 7 + 8 + 5 = 22
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 3, 4
- Most frequent digit
- 5 · freedom, change, movement
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.