Josi
An endearing diminutive of the Spanish name Josefa, meaning "She will add".
Name Census estimates that about 1,011 living Americans carry the first name Josi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Josi today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josi births was 2002 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josi. 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 Josi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 339,025 Americans
Peak year
2002
36 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,248
Tracked since 1959
Census
Josi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,199 people with the first name Josi, which placed it at #10,911 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
#10,911
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,199 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Josi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josi is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Josi 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 Josi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.7% · 884
- Hispanic or Latino15.3% · 184
- Black or African American3.8% · 45
- Two or more races3.4% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 13
Popularity
Josi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josi from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 269 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Josi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josi 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 Josi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Josi
The name Josi has its origins in the Spanish language, derived from the Biblical name Jose, which ultimately traces back to the Hebrew name Yosef. The name Yosef is derived from the Hebrew verb "yasaf," meaning "to add" or "to increase." This biblical connection suggests that the name Josi may have been borne by those of Jewish or Christian faith in its early use.
In its Spanish form, Jose, the name was widely used in Spain and its territories, including parts of the Americas, during the colonial era. The diminutive form Josi likely emerged as a nickname or shortened version of Jose, particularly in regions where Spanish was spoken.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Josi can be found in the 16th century, when Josi de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist, was born in 1540 in Medina del Campo, Spain. He is known for his works on the natural and moral history of the West Indies, where he spent several years as a missionary.
Another notable historical figure bearing the name Josi was Josi Rizal, a Filipino polymath and national hero, born in 1861. Rizal was a writer, poet, physician, and advocate for Philippine independence from Spanish colonial rule. He was executed by firing squad in 1896 at the age of 35, becoming a martyr for the Philippine Revolution.
In the realm of music, Josi Carreras, a Spanish tenor and one of the Three Tenors, was born in 1946 in Barcelona, Spain. He is renowned for his operatic performances and recordings, particularly in the bel canto repertoire.
Josi Saramago, a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born in 1922 in Azinhaga, Portugal. His works, including novels such as "Blindness" and "The Stone Raft," explored themes of human existence, power, and social justice.
Lastly, Josi Mujica, a former President of Uruguay (2010-2015), was born in 1935 in Montevideo. Known as "the poorest president in the world" for his modest lifestyle, Mujica was a former guerrilla fighter and advocate for human rights and social reforms.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the name Josi throughout history, spanning various fields, cultures, and time periods.
People
Josi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josi 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
Josi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,011 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josi 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 339,025 US residents.
Is Josi a common name?
We classify Josi as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,046 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josi most popular?
The single biggest year for Josi was 2002, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josi is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Josi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,199 people with the name Josi, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,911 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 Josi 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 Josi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Josi leans strongly female. 1,100 people counted with this name were female (91.7%), compared with 100 male bearers (8.3%). 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 Josi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josi is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Josi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Josi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.7% (884 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 Josi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Josi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josi 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 Josi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Josi 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 Josi 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 Americans are named Josi?
See how many people share the name Josi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.