Josseline
A feminine name of French origin meaning "smooth" or "pretty plant".
Name Census estimates that about 608 living Americans carry the first name Josseline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Josseline today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Josseline births was 2007 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Josseline. 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
608
~ 1 in 563,741 Americans
Peak year
2007
46 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,615
Tracked since 1988
Census
Josseline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,077 people with the first name Josseline, which placed it at #11,755 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
#11,755
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,077 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Josseline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josseline is Hispanic at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.2%) and White (3.1%). 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 Josseline 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 Josseline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.3% · 972
- Black or African American5.2% · 56
- White3.1% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
- Two or more races0.2% · 2
Popularity
Josseline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Josseline from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 290 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Josseline 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 Josseline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Josselines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Josseline, while Virginia, New York, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Josseline
The name Josseline is a feminine given name of French origin, derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning "he will add" or "he will increase." It is a variant spelling of the name Josselyne or Jocelyn, which emerged in the Middle Ages as a masculine name before eventually becoming a popular feminine name as well.
The earliest known use of the name Josseline can be traced back to the 12th century in France, where it was often used as a masculine name. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Josseline de Courtenay, a French nobleman who lived in the late 12th century and was a member of the powerful Courtenay family.
During the Renaissance period, the name Josseline began to gain popularity as a feminine name, particularly among the French nobility. One notable bearer of the name during this time was Josseline de Montmorency, a French noblewoman who lived in the 16th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
In the 17th century, the name Josseline continued to be used in France, with a few notable individuals bearing the name. One such person was Josseline de Laval, a French noblewoman who lived during the reign of King Louis XIV and was known for her involvement in court intrigues.
As the name spread beyond France, it became more popular in other parts of Europe and eventually made its way to the Americas. One notable bearer of the name in the 19th century was Josseline Peletier, a French-Canadian author and educator who lived in Quebec and wrote several influential works on education and language.
Another famous bearer of the name was Josseline Chamonix, a French alpine climber who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was known for her daring ascents of some of the highest peaks in the Alps, and she helped to popularize mountaineering as a sport for women.
Other notable individuals with the name Josseline throughout history include Josseline Sartre, a French philosopher and writer who lived in the 20th century and was the sister of the famous existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, and Josseline Gallas, a French opera singer who was active in the mid-20th century and was renowned for her performances of works by composers such as Verdi and Puccini.
People
Josseline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Josseline 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
Josseline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Josseline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 608 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Josseline 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 563,741 US residents.
Is Josseline a common name?
We classify Josseline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 618 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Josseline most popular?
The single biggest year for Josseline was 2007, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Josseline is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Josseline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,077 people with the name Josseline, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,755 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 Josseline 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 Josseline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Josseline appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,071 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Josseline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Josseline is Hispanic at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Black (5.2%) and White (3.1%). 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 Josseline most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Josseline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (972 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 Josseline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Josseline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Josseline 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 Josseline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Josseline 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 Josseline 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 are named Josseline?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.