How rare is the name Josef?

9,669 people in the United States have the first name Josef, about 1 in 31,237. It ranks #2,516 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

JOSEF

#2,516

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
9,669
About
1 in 31,237
This common or more
80%
Who bears it

Of the 9,669 people named Josef, 73.4% reported their origin as White, 12.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 6% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.5%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Josef peaked in 1999, when 220 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19002025
Peak year
1999
Births that year
220
In 2025*
44 ▼80%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 9,158 babies have been given the name since 1900. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Josef by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #1,679. The largest share of babies named Josef, 30.7%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1900s#2,83643
1910s#2,938173
1920s#3,989162
1930s#3,943135
1940s#3,690172
1950s#2,993335
1960s#2,451554
1970s#1,9281,026
1980s#1,6791,559
1990s#1,8341,789
2000s#2,1801,834
2010s#3,5271,011
2020s#4,899365
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–273.7%
Silent Generation 1928–452.9%
Baby boom 1946–647.3%
Generation X 1965–8016.1%
Millennials 1981–9628.2%
Generation Z 1997–1230.7%
2013 and later11.1%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Josef is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Josef has been most common in New York (2.5×), California (2×), and Washington (1.8×), and least common in Tennessee (0.3×).

5,154 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Josef

#2,514 Sami · 9,683#2,515 Diann · 9,672#2,517 Brittani · 9,668#2,518 Renato · 9,661

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Josef, most common first.

#2,430 Josefa · 10,221#4,800 Jozef · 3,764#11,176 Josep · 1,162#16,502 Jozsef · 682#33,410 Josif · 248#43,502 Joseff · 162

Also a last name

As a last name, Josef ranks #53,865 of 156,621, with 414 people. See Josef as a last name

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