Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic countries. In Portuguese and Spanish, the name is "José". In Arabic, including in the Quran, the name is spelled يوسف, Yūsuf. In Kurdish (Kurdî), the name is Ûsiv or Yûsiv, Persian, the name is Yousef, and in Turkish it is Yusuf. In Pashto the name is spelled Esaf (ايسپ) and in Malayalam it is spelled Ousep (ഔസേപ്പ്). In Tamil, it is spelled as Yosepu (யோசேப்பு). The name has enjoyed significant popularity in its many forms in numerous countries, and Joseph was one of the two names (along with Robert) to have remained in the top 10 boys' names list in the US from 1925 to 1972. It is especially common in contemporary Israel, as either "Yossi" or "Yossef", and in Italy, where the name "Giuseppe" was the most common male name in the 20th century. In the first century CE, Yosef was the second most popular male name for Jews. In the Book of Genesis Joseph is Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first son, and known in the Hebrew Bible as Yossef ben-Yaakov. In the New Testament the most notable two are Joseph of Nazareth, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus Christ who supplied the tomb in which Jesus was buried.
Given name This article is about the masculine given name. For other uses, see Joseph (disambiguation). JosephJoseph, a figure in the Book of GenesisPronunciation/ˈdʒoʊzɪf, -sɪf/GenderMaleName day19 MarchOriginWord/nameHebrewMeaningYHWH shall add, God will add, taken away or praise, fame taken awayRegion of originMiddle EastOther namesRelated namesJoe, Joey, Joel, Jojo, Jos, Joss, Josh, John, Jose, Josephus, José, Joseba, Jože, Jāzeps, Dodô, Doido, Joep, Jupp, Posie, Bapi, Jô, Giuseppe, Yosef, Yoseph, Ouseph, Iosif, Peppa, Hovsep, Yusuf, Seph, Sepp, Jo, Josie, Josip, Josif, Josef, József, Pepa, Josephine, Josephina, Increase, Juuso, Joshua, Ġużepp, Ġużè, Xosé, Żepp, Żeppi Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף‎). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic countries. In Portuguese and Spanish, the name is "José". In Arabic, including in the Quran, the name is spelled يوسف, Yūsuf. In Kurdish (Kurdî), the name is Ûsiv or Yûsiv, Persian, the name is Yousef, and in Turkish it is Yusuf. In Pashto the name is spelled Esaf (ايسپ) and in Malayalam it is spelled Ousep (ഔസേപ്പ്). In Tamil, it is spelled as Yosepu (யோசேப்பு). The name has enjoyed significant popularity in its many forms in numerous countries, and Joseph was one of the two names (along with Robert) to have remained in the top 10 boys' names list in the US from 1925 to 1972. It is especially common in contemporary Israel, as either "Yossi" or "Yossef", and in Italy, where the name "Giuseppe" was the most common male name in the 20th century. In the first century CE, Yosef was the second most popular male name for Jews. In the Book of Genesis Joseph is Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first son, and known in the Hebrew Bible as Yossef ben-Yaakov. In the New Testament the most notable two are Joseph of Nazareth, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple of Jesus Christ who supplied the tomb in which Jesus was buried.
[edit] The Bible offers two explanations for the origins of the name Yosef: first, it is compared to the word asaf from the root /'sp/, 'taken away': "And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach"; Yosef is then identified with the similar root /ysp/, meaning 'add': "And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son." The Jewish Encyclopedia says that it is a theophoric name referencing the Tetragrammaton, and in fact his name is spelled Jehoseph, with the theophoric first syllable 'Jeho', once in Psalms. The name can also consist of the Hebrew yadah meaning "praise", "fame" and the word asaf.[citation needed]
[edit] This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Variations for males include: Afrikaans: Josef, Joesoef Albanian: Jozef, Zef, Josif, Jozë, Isuf, Bep, Bibë Alemmanic: Sepp, Seppu Alsatian: Sepp Amharic: ዮሴፍ (Yosēfi) Aragonese: Chusep, Chusé Aramaic: ܝܰܘܣܶܦ (Yawsef, Yowsef) Armenian: Հովսեփ, Յովսէփ (Hovsep) Arabic: يوسف (Yūsif, Youssef, Yussef, Yousif, Yousef, Youssof, Yūsuf) Arpitan: Dzozè Azerbaijani: Yusif, Yusuf, Usub Basque: Joseba, Josepe Bavarian: Sepp, Bepperl, Beppe, Beppi, Belarusian: Іосіф (Iosif), Язэп (Jazep) Bengali: ইউসুফ (Iusuf) Betawi: Yusuf, Yusup, Ucup. Bosnian: Josip, Jusuf Breton: Jozef, Jozeb Bulgarian: Йосиф (Yosif) Burmese (Myanmar): ယောသပ် (Yaw sautsai) Cantonese: 約瑟 (Joek3 sat1) Catalan: Josep, Pep (shortened form), Jep (an alternative shortened form) Circassian: Юсыф (Yusyf) Cornish: Josep Corsican: Ghjaseppu, Ghjiseppu; Diminutives: Ghjasè, Ghjisè Croatian: Josip, Joso, Jozo, Joza, Joze, Joško, Joža, Jože, Bepo, Bepi, Bapi, Pino, Osíp, Bozo, Gonzo, Ganso Czech: Josef; Diminutives: Pepa, Peppa, Pepík, Pepik, Jožka, Pepan, Pepča, Pepek, Pepino, Jožin Danish: Josef Dutch: Jozef, Josephus; Diminutives: Joep, Joost, Jos, Jo, Jef, Seppe English: Joseph, Diminutives: Jo, Joe, Joey, Josy, Jossy, Josey, Jos, Josie Estonian: Joosep, Joosu Faroese: Jósef Fijian: Josefa Filipino: Joseph, José, Pepe, Peping, Sep, Jojo Finnish: Jooseppi, Juuso French: José, Joseph, Jojo Friulian: Josef, 'Sef, 'Sefin, 'Sefut, Bepi, Bepo, Beput Galician: Xosé Georgian: იოსებ (Ioseb), სოსო (Soso) German: Joscha, Josef, Joseph; Jupp (familiar); Sepp, Seppl or Pepi (familiar or diminutive forms, particularly in South Germany and Austria) Greek: Ιωσήφ (Iosif), Ιώσηπος (Iosipos), Σήφης (Sifis) (local in Crete) Gujarati: જોસેફ (Jōsēfa) Hawaiian: Iokepa Hebrew: יוסף (Yosef), יוסי (Yossi) (diminutive), ספי (Sefi) (diminutive) Hiligaynon: José, Josef, Josep (rare) Hindi: यूसुफ़ (Yūsuf) Hungarian: József, Jóska, Józsi (diminutive) Icelandic: Jósef, Jói Igbo: Yôsēp̄, Yossef, Josef Indonesian: Joesoef, Josef, Joseph, Jusuf, Ucup, Yosef, Yosep, Yusuf, Yusup, Yoseph, Yosi Italian: Giuseppe, Giù, Beppe, Peppe, Peppino, Pepino, Pino, Bepi, Beppo, Pippo, Puccio, Gioseffo, Gio or Giò Irish: Seosamh, Iósaf Japanese: ヨセフ (Yosefu), ジョセフ (Josefu) Kambaata: Yeseffe, Yese, Josse, Jossy Kannada: ಜೋಸೆಫ್ (Jōseph) Kashmiri: یوٗسف (Yūsuf) Kazakh: Yusuf, Jusip Khmer: យ៉ូសែប (Yousaep) Korean: 요셉 (Yosep), 조셉 (Josep) Kurdish (Kurdî): Ûsiv, Yûsiv Kyrgyz: Жусуп (Jusup), Юс Latvian: Jāzeps, Jozefs, Josefs, Josifs, Džozefs, Žozefs, Jusufs, Jozis, Zeps, Seps Limburgish: Joep, Sef Lithuanian: Juozapas, Juozas (shorter form), Juzas, Juzė (diminutive), Justas Lombard: Usèp, Jusèp, Bèp Luganda: Yusufu, Yozefu Macedonian: Јосиф (J̌osif) Malayalam: ജോസപ്പ് (Josapp) or ജോസപ്പൻ (Josappan), ഔസേപ്പ് (Ousepp), യോസേപ്പ് (Yosepp), കൊച്ചാപ്പു (Kochaappu), ഈപ്പൻ (Eeppan), ജോസഫ് (Jōsaph), ഐപ്പ് (Iype) Malaysian: Yusuf, Yusop, Yusoff, Jusoh, Eusoff, Usop Manado Malay: Josef, Yosef, Oce' Maltese: Ġużeppi, Ġużi, Ġuż, Ġużè, Peppi, Peppu, Peppinu, Pepp, Peppa, Pepa, Żeppi, Żeppu, Żepp Mandarin: simplified Chinese: 约瑟; traditional Chinese: 約瑟; pinyin: (Yuēsè), simplified Chinese: 约瑟夫; traditional Chinese: 約瑟夫; pinyin: (Yuēsèfū), Chinese: 玉素甫; pinyin: Yùsùfǔ, Zho-Zi-Fu Marathi: योसेफ (Jōsēfa) Māori: Hohepa Mongolian: Иосеф (Iosyef) Nepali: यूसुफ (Yūsupha) Norwegian: Josef Occitan: Josèp Persian: يوسف (Youssef, Yūsuf, Yussef) Polish: Józef, Józek (diminutive), Józio (diminutive) Portuguese: José, Josefo, Joséf; diminutive forms: Zé, Zeca, Zezé Provençal: Jóusè Punjabi: ਯੂਸੁਫ਼ (Yūsufa) Quechua: Husiy Romanian: Iosif, Iosub Romansch: Giusep, Gisep, Giusi, Sepp Russian: Иосиф (Iosif), Осип (Osip), Пеппа (Peppa) Samoan: Iosefa, Sefa Sardinian: Josepe, Zosepe, Gisepu Scottish Gaelic: Seòsaidh, Eòsaph, Iòsaph Serbian: Јосиф (Josif), Јосип (Josip), Јосеф (Josef), Јозеф (Jozef) Sepedi: Josefa Sicilian: Giuseppi Silesian: Zefel, Zeflik (diminutive) Sinhala: ජුසේ (Juse), ජෝසේෆ් (Jōsēf) Slovak: Jozef, Jožo, Dodo, Ďoďo, Dodô, Doido Slovene: Jožef, Jože Somali: Yuusuf Spanish: José; hypocoristic versions: Pepe, Chepe, Che, Cheo, Chelo Sundanese: Ucup, Yusup, Yosep Swahili: Yusuph, Yusufu, Yosefu Swedish: Josef Syriac: ܝܘܣܦ (Yosip, Yausef, Ossi) Tagalog: Jose, Pepe, Peping Tamil: சூசை (sūsai), யோசேப்பு (yōcēppu) Tajik: Юсуф (Yusuf) Telugu: యోసేపు (Yōsepu) Thai: โจเซฟ (Co sef, Josef) Tigrinya: ዮሴፍ (Yosēf) Tongan: Siosefa Turkish: Yusuf Turkmen: Yusup Tyap: Isuu Ukrainian: Йосип (Josyp), Осип (Osyp) Urdu: يوسف (Yūsuf) Uzbek: Yusuf Valencian: Josep Venetian: Juxepe, Bepi, Bepin, Bapi Vietnamese: Giu-se or Giô-xếp or Yuse or Giô-sép Vilamovian: Juza Welsh: Joseff, Ioseff (or, less commonly, Iosep) Yiddish: Yissl, Yussel, Jayzl Yoruba: Josefu, Yusufu Shona: Joze, Joza Zulu: uJosef Female forms[edit] Main article: Josephine (name) Albanian: Jozefina, Zefina Catalan: Josepa, Pepa, Peppa (shortened) Cornish: Josepa Croatian: Josipa, Josica, Jozica Czech: Josefina, Josefa, Jozeva Dutch: José, Josefien English: Jo, Josephine, Joette, Posy, Posie French: Joséphine, Josephte, Josepthe Friulian: Josefe, 'Sefe, Pine Greek: Ιωσηφίνα (Iosiphina) Hungarian: Jozefa, Jozefina, Józsa Indonesian: Yosephine, Josefa, Josepha, Josephira, Josephine, Josephina, Yosefin, Yosefina, Josefina, Yosepha Irish: Seosaimhín Italian: Giuseppa, Giuseppina Maltese: Ġuża, Ġużeppa Norwegian: Josefine, Josephine Polish: Józefina, Józefa, Józia (shortened) Portuguese: Josefa, Josefina, José (mainly in the compound Maria José), Zezé (nickname) Romansh: Giuseppa, Giuseppina Samoan: Iosefina Sardinian: Josepa, Zosepa, Zosepedda Slovak: Jozefína, Jozefa Spanish: Josefa, Josefina, Josefita Swedish: Josefin, Josefine, Josephine, Josefina Yiddish: Jayzl, Yissl
[edit] Further information: List of people with given name Joseph