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Josefa

girl name
Origin
Spanish
Syllables
3
Peak era
Rare
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Josefa and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

“The Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of Joseph, from Hebrew Yosef, he will add.”

The story

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How popular is Josefa around the world?

In the United States, 66 babies were named Josefa between 2020 and 2025. In Chile, 1,687 girls were registered as Josefa in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

Josefa is on the official records of the United States, Chile, Spain, Brazil, Austria, Mexico City and Argentina.

Josefa crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of a Spanish-speaking record and of Brazil’s 2022 census, which counts people of every age. The full list: Spanish and Portuguese

United States

1 in 330,000

In the United States, 66 babies were named Josefa between 2020 and 2025.

1890srare in US records2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Josefa has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

Chile

1 in 110

In Chile, 1,687 girls were registered as Josefa in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

1920peak 2016

share of that year’s name registrations

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

See the full list for Chile →

Spain

1 in 200

In Spain, 225,853 residents are named Josefa, the 13th most common name among women, with a mean age of 71.6 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

See the full list for Spain →

Brazil

1 in 740

At the 2022 census, 274,653 people in Brazil were named Josefa, the 112th most common name, with a median age of 61.
Among people named Josefa living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.

1930speak 1960s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 240 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

See the full list for Brazil →

Austria

1 in 6,900

In Austria, 11 girls named Josefa were born in 2025, the 438th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.

1984peak 2025

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

See the full list for Austria →

Mexico City City

1 in 29,000

In Mexico City, there were 4 registrations of Josefa in 2022.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

See the full list for Mexico City →

Argentina

1 in 44,000

In Argentina, 15 newborns were given the name Josefa in 2024.

2012peak 2024

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

See the full list for Argentina →

France

last on record 2024

Josefa is not on the 2025 record for France, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.

1900peak 19652025

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

See the full list for France →

Montevideo City

last on record 2009

Josefa is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.

peak 19402011

share of that year’s births on record

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

South Australia

last on record 1991

Josefa is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

Not on the record in Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Josefa

People given the name Josefa in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Josefa

Lola Ana Vida Ines Marcelina Guadalupe

The Josefa deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Josefa truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Josefa fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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