Jossie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Josefa, meaning "God will add".
Name Census estimates that about 718 living Americans carry the first name Jossie. It is a predominantly female name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Jossie today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jossie births was 1926 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jossie. 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
718
~ 1 in 477,374 Americans
Peak year
1926
45 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1994 SSA rank
#9,538
Tracked since 1880
Census
Jossie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 996 people with the first name Jossie, which placed it at #12,471 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
#12,471
National first-name rank
People counted
996
996 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
53.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jossie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jossie is Hispanic at 53.1%. The next largest groups are White (23.7%) and Black (15.5%). 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 Jossie 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 Jossie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino53.1% · 529
- White23.7% · 236
- Black or African American15.5% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 59
- Two or more races1.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Jossie
Out of the 2,045 babies given the name Jossie since 1880, 99.2% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Jossie as a male name
- Ranked #9,538 in 1994
- 5 male births in 1994
- Peak: 1990 (6 births)
Jossie as a female name
- Ranked #11,650 in 2023
- 8 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1926 (45 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jossie leans strongly female. 873 people counted with this name were female (87.7%), compared with 122 male bearers (12.3%).
Popularity
Jossie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jossie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 343 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
Jossie 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 Jossie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jossies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Jossie, while Oklahoma, New York, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jossie
The name Jossie is a diminutive form of the feminine given name Josefa or Josephine, ultimately derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning "he will add" or "he will increase." The name Yosef was borne by the biblical patriarch Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel, whose story is recounted in the Book of Genesis. Josefa and Josephine originated from the Latin form of the name, Josephus.
During the Middle Ages, the name Josefa gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Spain, France, and Italy. In Italy, the diminutive form Jossie emerged as an affectionate variant. The name was often associated with religious devotion, as Saint Josefa de Obidos, a Portuguese nun and mystic, was canonized in 1693.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Jossie was Jossie Sherry, a 16th-century English calligrapher renowned for her exquisite penmanship. In the 17th century, Jossie Proctor, a Quaker preacher and writer from England, became known for her religious writings and advocacy for women's rights.
In the 19th century, Jossie Stoddart, a Scottish author and poet, gained recognition for her works exploring themes of nature and romanticism. Jossie Bunkley, an African American activist and community leader, played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement in Virginia during the 1960s.
Another notable figure was Jossie Massine, a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer who collaborated with renowned composers like Igor Stravinsky and contributed significantly to the development of modern ballet in the early 20th century (1886-1992).
While the name Jossie has been less common in recent times, it carries a rich heritage rooted in religious, literary, and cultural traditions spanning centuries and continents.
People
Jossie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jossie 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
Jossie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jossie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 718 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jossie 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 477,374 US residents.
Is Jossie a common name?
We classify Jossie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,045 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jossie most popular?
The single biggest year for Jossie was 1926, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jossie is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jossie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 996 people with the name Jossie, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,471 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 Jossie 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 Jossie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jossie leans strongly female. 873 people counted with this name were female (87.7%), compared with 122 male bearers (12.3%). 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 Jossie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jossie is Hispanic at 53.1%. The next largest groups are White (23.7%) and Black (15.5%). 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 Jossie most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jossie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.1% (529 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 Jossie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jossie a female name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Jossie 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 Jossie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jossie 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 Jossie 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 the name Jossie?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Jossie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.