Josefine
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God shall increase".
Name Census estimates that about 605 living Americans carry the first name Josefine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Josefine today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josefine births was 2021 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josefine. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Josefine with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
605
~ 1 in 566,536 Americans
Peak year
2021
26 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,680
Tracked since 1918
Census
Josefine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 917 people with the first name Josefine, which placed it at #13,247 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,247
National first-name rank
People counted
917
917 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Josefine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josefine is White at 47.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Josefine described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Josefine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.1% · 432
- Hispanic or Latino41.7% · 382
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 61
- Two or more races2.3% · 21
- Black or African American1.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Josefine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josefine from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 153 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Josefine remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josefine by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Josefine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josefines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Josefine, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Josefine
Josefine is a feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name Joseph, meaning "he will add" or "he will increase". It traces its roots back to ancient times, with Joseph being a prominent figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.
The name Joseph gained widespread popularity across Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly after the Christian tradition of naming children after biblical figures became more common. Josefine emerged as a feminine form of Joseph, with variations in spelling such as Josephine, Josefina, and Josefína.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Josefine can be found in the 14th century, when Josefine von Öttingen, a German noblewoman, lived between 1340 and 1410. In the 16th century, Josefine of Bavaria (1572-1598) was a German princess and the wife of Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxe-Weimar.
During the 18th century, the name Josefine gained further prominence. Josefine of Carignano (1698-1767) was an Italian princess and the mother of King Louis XV of France. Josefine Tussaud (1761-1850), the founder of the famous Madame Tussauds wax museum in London, was another notable figure who bore this name.
In the 19th century, Josefine Gallmeyer (1838-1884) was an Austrian writer and feminist activist, known for her contributions to the women's movement in Austria. Josefine Mutzenbacher (1852-1904), although a fictional character from an erotic novel, became a cultural icon and contributed to the popularity of the name.
Josefine Dora (1868-1944) was a German actress and singer who gained fame in the early 20th century. More recently, Josefine Preuß (born 1986) is a contemporary German actress known for her roles in television and film.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Josefine throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Josefine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josefine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Josefine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josefine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 605 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josefine going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 566,536 US residents.
Is Josefine a common name?
We classify Josefine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 692 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josefine most popular?
The single biggest year for Josefine was 2021, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josefine is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Josefine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 917 people with the name Josefine, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,247 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Josefine in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Josefine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Josefine appears almost entirely female. Of the 925 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Josefine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josefine is White at 47.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Josefine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Josefine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.1% (432 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Josefine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Josefine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josefine in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Josefine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Josefine in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Josefine can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Josefine as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Josefine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.