Yosef
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add".
Name Census estimates that about 10,012 living Americans carry the first name Yosef. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yosef today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yosef births was 2024 (466 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yosef. 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
10K
~ 1 in 34,234 Americans
Peak year
2024
466 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#611
Tracked since 1951
Popularity
Yosef: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yosef from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,501 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yosef remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yosef 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 Yosef during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yosefs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Yosef, while Colorado, North Carolina, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 548 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yosef
The name Yosef is derived from the Hebrew language and has its origins in ancient Middle Eastern cultures. It is the Hebrew form of the name Joseph, which means "he will add" or "he will increase" in Hebrew. The name has its roots in the biblical story of Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel, whose story is recounted in the Book of Genesis.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yosef can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where Joseph is a prominent figure. He is portrayed as a dreamer and interpreter of dreams, who rises to become a powerful vizier in Egypt after being sold into slavery by his brothers. The name Yosef gained widespread popularity among the Jewish people due to its association with this biblical figure.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yosef. One of the earliest was Yosef ben Matityahu, better known as Flavius Josephus (37-100 CE), a Jewish historian who wrote extensively about the Jewish-Roman wars and the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Yosef Rabi'ah (1035-1081 CE), a Spanish-Jewish philosopher and poet who contributed significantly to the development of Jewish thought during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain.
In more recent times, Yosef Haim Brenner (1881-1921) was a notable Hebrew writer and pioneer of modern Hebrew literature, known for his short stories and novels depicting life in Jewish settlements in Palestine.
Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik (1903-1993), also known as "The Rav," was a renowned Orthodox Jewish rabbi, philosopher, and Talmudic scholar who had a profound influence on the modern Orthodox Jewish movement in America.
Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (1910-2012) was a highly revered Haredi rabbi and posek (religious authority on Jewish law) in Israel, who was widely respected for his vast knowledge of Jewish law and his moral leadership.
The name Yosef has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly within the Jewish tradition. Its biblical origins and association with significant historical figures have contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name throughout the centuries.
People
Yosef + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yosef as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yosef: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yosef?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,012 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yosef 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 34,234 US residents.
Is Yosef a common name?
We classify Yosef as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yosef most popular?
The single biggest year for Yosef was 2024, when 466 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yosef is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Yosef a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yosef 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.
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.