Jozsef
Of Hebrew origin, meaning "he will add, increase".
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the first name Jozsef. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jozsef today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jozsef births was 2005 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jozsef. 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 Jozsef with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
136
~ 1 in 2,520,252 Americans
Peak year
2005
12 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,204
Tracked since 1963
Census
Jozsef in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 675 people with the first name Jozsef, which placed it at #16,636 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
#16,636
National first-name rank
People counted
675
675 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jozsef
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jozsef is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Jozsef 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 Jozsef at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 617
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 36
- Two or more races2.7% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
- Black or African American0.1% · 1
Popularity
Jozsef: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jozsef from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 38 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jozsef remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jozsef 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 Jozsef 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 Jozsef
The name Jozsef originates from the Hungarian language and is the equivalent of the English name Joseph. Its roots can be traced back to the Hebrew name Yosef, which means "he will add" or "he will increase" in reference to fertility and future offspring.
The name gained widespread popularity across Europe due to its biblical origins, appearing in the Book of Genesis as the name of the son of Jacob and Rachel. Jozsef is the Hungarian variation of the name, which was introduced to the region with the spread of Christianity in the 10th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jozsef can be found in the Illuminated Chronicle, a 14th-century Hungarian historical record, which mentions a nobleman named Jozsef Forgach. In the 15th century, Jozsef Bak was a renowned Hungarian theologian and diplomat who served as the Archbishop of Esztergom.
During the Hungarian Renaissance, Jozsef Balogh was a notable poet and writer who lived from 1498 to 1538. His literary works contributed significantly to the development of Hungarian literature and language.
In the late 18th century, Jozsef Hajnóczy was a prominent Hungarian writer, philosopher, and lawyer who advocated for democratic reforms and the abolition of serfdom. He was executed in 1795 for his alleged involvement in the Martinovics Conspiracy against the Habsburg monarchy.
Another notable figure was Jozsef Kazinczy, a renowned Hungarian writer, poet, and language reformer who lived from 1759 to 1831. He played a crucial role in shaping and promoting the modern Hungarian language and literary style.
Throughout history, the name Jozsef has been associated with various influential individuals, reflecting its enduring popularity and cultural significance within the Hungarian community.
People
Jozsef + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jozsef 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
Jozsef: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jozsef?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jozsef 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 2,520,252 US residents.
Is Jozsef a common name?
We classify Jozsef as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jozsef most popular?
The single biggest year for Jozsef was 2005, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jozsef is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jozsef in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 675 people with the name Jozsef, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,636 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 Jozsef 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 Jozsef?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jozsef appears almost entirely male. Of the 682 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jozsef?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jozsef is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Jozsef most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jozsef in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (617 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 Jozsef in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jozsef a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jozsef in the SSA data are male. 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 Jozsef still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jozsef 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 Jozsef 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 Jozsef as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Jozsef, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.