Josef

Where Josef comes from

The dictionaries list Josef as a given name — a male given name, variant of Joseph — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

Along the way
  1. 1835
    Josef Stefan born
    Carinthian Slovene physicist, mathematician and poet
  2. 1900
    First appearance
    #1,162 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1911
    Josef Mengele born
    Nazi SS doctor and Military Officer at Auschwitz
  4. 1984
    Peak, #663
    170 babies named Josef — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2017
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,829.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name, variant of Joseph.
Namesakes
  • Josef Mengele · Nazi SS doctor and Military Officer at Auschwitz, 1911–1979
  • Josef Stefan · Carinthian Slovene physicist, mathematician and poet, 1835–1893
  • Josef Čapek · Czech painter and writer, 1887–1945
  • Josef Albers · German-American designer, painter, educator and typographer, 1888–1976
  • Josef Masopust · Czech footballer, 1931–2015

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.