Josepha
Feminine form of Joseph, a Hebrew name meaning "He will add".
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Josepha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Josepha today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josepha births was 1925 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josepha. 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.
People living today
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
1925
13 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2016 SSA rank
#17,446
Tracked since 1888
Popularity
Josepha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josepha from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 77 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josepha 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 Josepha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Josepha
Josepha is a feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning "he will add" or "he will increase". The name has its origins in the biblical figure Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel, whose story is told in the Book of Genesis.
The name Josepha gained popularity in the early Christian era, particularly among European Christians. It was used as a feminine form of the name Joseph, reflecting the reverence for Saint Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ. The name was widely adopted in various European countries, including France, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Josepha dates back to the 4th century, when a Christian martyr named Josepha was executed during the Diocletian Persecution in Antioch, modern-day Turkey. Her story is recounted in the Acta Sanctorum, a collection of lives of saints.
In the Middle Ages, the name Josepha was borne by several notable women, such as Josepha of Bavaria (1672-1689), a Bavarian princess and the daughter of Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria. Another notable figure was Josepha of Leuchtenberg (1807-1876), a Bavarian princess who married Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway.
During the Renaissance period, the name Josepha gained further prominence. One of the most famous bearers was Josepha of Rosheim (1501-1572), a German abbess and mystic who played a significant role in the Catholic Reformation in Alsace.
In the 18th century, Josepha Maria of Bavaria (1739-1767) was a Bavarian princess who became the Electress of the Palatinate through her marriage to Elector Karl Theodor. Additionally, Josepha of Saxe-Altenburg (1805-1859) was a German princess and the wife of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The name Josepha has also been used in various literary works, including the play "Josepha" by Franz Grillparzer, an Austrian writer and dramatist from the 19th century.
People
Josepha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josepha 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
Josepha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josepha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josepha 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 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Josepha a common name?
We classify Josepha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 407 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josepha most popular?
The single biggest year for Josepha was 1925, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josepha is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Josepha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josepha 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.
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.