MEANING & HISTORY
What does Joseph mean?
Joseph is the English form of Hebrew Yosef, transmitted through Greek and Latin biblical usage. Its conventional interpretation is God will add.
Genesis connects the name with the hope of another son. Joseph therefore belongs to a verbal naming tradition, expressing a hope or declaration rather than simply meaning increase as an abstract noun.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈd͡ʒəʊzɪf/Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈd͡ʒoʊsəf/US
- /ˈd͡ʒoʊzəf/US
- /ˈd͡ʒoʊsɪf/Northeastern · US
- /ˈd͡ʒoʊzɪf/Northeastern · US
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
CebuanoEtymology & source
From English Joseph, from Old Testament Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf).
a male given name from English
Wiktionary: Joseph (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. Noun sense 1 (“one whose chastity is above temptation”) is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.
A male given name from Hebrew.
Wiktionary: Joseph (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Joseph
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Francis Escudero
Filipino politician and lawyer
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Ace Durano
Filipino politician
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
44
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
34
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Francis Escudero, Ace Durano
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Joseph in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Joseph
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Jose♂Related to Joseph: adding or increasing
- José♂God will add
- Josef♂God will increase
- Josefa♀God will add; feminine form of Joseph
- Josephus♂Latinized Joseph; may God add
- Josh♂Short form of Joshua; the Lord is salvation
- Joe♂Short form of Joseph
- Joel♂Yahweh is God
What rhymes with Joseph?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Recorded combinations with Joseph
19 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
- Arnel Joseph·Source record
- Celso Joseph·Source record
- Dennis Joseph·Source record
- Eric Joseph·Source record
- Erico Joseph·Source record
- Francis Joseph·Source record
- Franco Joseph·Source record
- Joseph Angel·Source record
Explore Joseph further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q471788 — Joseph (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Francis Escudero (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q471788 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Ace Durano (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q471788 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Joseph (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Joseph (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Joseph (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.