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Josephine

Girls' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~123,600 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#53 among girls
Births in 2025
4,126 332,458 since 1880
Typical age
30 years, median

Josephine popularity over time

Josephine rank by birth year, 1880–2025Josephine ranked #50 in 1880 and #53 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #21, in 1916.#100#53best #21 in 191618901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1918: 8,709 births recorded as Josephine. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Across the record, 71 years put Josephine in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #53, on 4,126 births. Compared with 2015, births are up 65%.

Babies named Josephine per yearPeaks at 8,709 births in 1918.8,709 in 1918018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Josephine?

Roughly 123,600 Josephines are alive in the US right now. That is out of 332,458 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Josephine?

Median age among living Josephines: 30. The 2010s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Josephine a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Josephine

Ages of living people named JosephineHalf of living Josephines are older than 30 and half younger.median 30020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Josephine is most common

Vermont uses the name 4.2× as often as the country as a whole. District of Columbia, Maine and New Hampshire follow.

Where Josephine is used more than average5 states use the name Josephine more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: 2.9× the national rateMEVermont: 4.2× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: 2.8× the national rateNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: 2.7× the national rateWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 3.4× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Josephine is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Vermont 96 4.2×
District of Columbia 201 3.4×
Maine 198 2.9×
New Hampshire 212 2.8×
Wyoming 57 2.7×

Josephine in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Josephine ranked #256 in 2025 on 182 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Josephine comes from

From French Joséphine, diminutive of Josèphe, feminine form of Joseph. Popularized in English by Josephine Bonaparte, the empress of Napoleonic France.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Josephine

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Josephine Baker American-born French dancer, singer and actress 1906–1975 96
Josephine Hull American stage and film actress 1877–1957 47
Josephine Bakhita Sudanese saint and former slave 1868–1947 43
Josephine Butler British feminist and social reformer fighting to end child prostitution 1828–1906 42
Josephine of Leuchtenberg Queen of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to 1859 1807–1876 42
Josephine Cochrane American inventor 1839–1913 41
Josephine Langford Australian actress 1997 37
Josephine Chaplin American actress 1949–2023 28
Photo credits (8)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/josephine.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).