Josef Boy
How popular is Josef?
#2,832 boy name in 2025
44 baby boys were named Josef in the US in 2025, making it the 2832nd most popular boy name.
Josef popularity over time
| Rank in 2025 | #2,832 for boys (▼ 571 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 44 boys |
| 10-year trend | Falling fast (-52% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #1,703 in 2015, #2,113 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1999 (220 boys) |
| Highest rank | #663 in 1984 |
| First recorded | 1900 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.0% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Josef counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Joseph family of names ranked #34 for boys in 2025 (#38 the year before), with 7,364 babies in all.
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Josef is most popular
Babies named Josef per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- New York: 0.1 per 1,000 (54 boys)
- California: 0.0 per 1,000 (26 boys)
- Texas: 0.0 per 1,000 (24 boys)
- Georgia: 0.0 per 1,000 (5 boys)
Josef by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 43 | #857 |
| 1910s | 173 | #1,044 |
| 1920s | 162 | #1,647 |
| 1930s | 135 | #1,521 |
| 1940s | 172 | #1,493 |
| 1950s | 335 | #1,089 |
| 1960s | 554 | #856 |
| 1970s | 1,026 | #673 |
| 1980s | 1,559 | #663 |
| 1990s | 1,789 | #735 |
| 2000s | 1,834 | #795 |
| 2010s | 1,011 | #1,257 |
| 2020s | 365 | #2,039 |
Boy names about as popular as Josef
Questions
- Is Josef a boy or girl name?
- Josef is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Josef were boys.
- How popular is the name Josef?
- 44 baby boys were named Josef in the US in 2025, making it the 2832nd most popular boy name.
- When was Josef most popular?
- Josef peaked in 1999, when 220 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #663 in 1984.
- How many people are named Josef?
- 9,158 babies have been named Josef in the US since 1880. We estimate about 8,126 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 31.
- Where is Josef most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Josef was most common in New York, at 0.1 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.