Josef
About Josef
The German, Scandinavian and Czech variant of Joseph, borne by several notable European artists and athletes, as well as the brutal Soviet dictator Josef (or Iosif) Stalin.
Pronounced JO-sef.
As of October 2026, Josef ranked #2860 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #663 in 1984.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,450 | 113 | 58.8 |
| 2015 | #1,710 | 91 | 47.5 |
| 2016 | #1,701 | 92 | 48.5 |
| 2017 | #1,834 | 81 | 43.8 |
| 2018 | #1,814 | 84 | 46.3 |
| 2019 | #1,857 | 81 | 45.1 |
| 2020 | #2,122 | 66 | 38.2 |
| 2021 | #2,046 | 72 | 41.2 |
| 2022 | #2,393 | 59 | 33.8 |
| 2023 | #2,300 | 61 | 35.7 |
| 2024 | #2,286 | 62 | 36 |
| 2025 | #2,860 | 44 | 25.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Josef.
- Shimon
- Samuele
- Tommaso
- Yannick
- Giulio
- Jorn
- Thom
- Moises
- Konrad
- Kay
- Rossi
- Yosef
- Terence
- Daron
- Emanuele
- Guido
- Lindsey
- Janek
- Lynn
- Costa
Josef on lists
Famous Josefs
- Jonas "Josef" von Sternberg
Austrian,American film director
- Josef Ludwig
Graf von Armansperg, 11th Prime Minister of Greece
- Josef Mysliveček
Czech composer
- Josef Doležal
Czech race walker
- Josef Ertl
German politician
- Josef Hladký
Czech,German medley swimmer
- Josef Abrhám
Czech actor
- Josef Lontscharitsch
Austrian road cyclist
- Josef Zeilbauer
Austrian decathlete
- Josef Suk
Czech composer and violinist
- Josef Strauss
Austrian composer; brother of composer Johann Strauss
- Josef Hoffmann
Austrian architect and designer
- Josef "Seppe" Hügi
Swiss footballer
Josef in pop culture
- Josef Bazhaeu
character on TV's "24"
- "Josef
" 2011 Croatian television movie