Josephine · Daily fortune

Josephine is a feminine name that Behind the Name describes as the English, German and Dutch form of the French Joséphine, which Behind the Name's Joseph entry lists as a French feminine form of Joseph. Joseph comes from the Hebrew Yosef, "he will add", from the root yasaf ("to add, to increase"); Wikipedia gives the feminine gloss "she shall add/grow". Wikipedia adds that Joséphine was originally a diminutive of French Josèphe, became the standard form in the 19th century, and gained prominence after 1800 through Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's wife and Empress of France. In the United States it ranked #53 for girls in 2025.

Behind the Name's entry is brief: Josephine is the "English, German and Dutch form of Joséphine." The Joséphine entry itself is not in the local cache, but Behind the Name's Joseph entry lists Joséphine among Joseph's French feminine forms (with Josée and Josèphe), and derives Joseph from the Hebrew Yosef, "he will add", from the root yasaf, "to add, to increase". Wikipedia agrees: Josephine is the English version of the French Joséphine, a female variant of Joseph, from Hebrew Yosef, which it glosses in the feminine as "she shall add/grow". Wikipedia also explains the French chain: Joséphine was originally a diminutive of Josèphe and became the standard form in the 19th century.

Wikipedia traces Josephine to the French Joséphine, which was originally a diminutive of Josèphe and became the standard form in the 19th century. The name gained prominence after 1800 because of Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763–1814), who became Napoleon's wife and Empress of France. The underlying masculine name has a much longer history: Behind the Name's Joseph entry records the biblical Joseph, Saint Joseph the husband of Mary, the name's medieval currency among Jews, its late-medieval rise in Spain and Italy as Saint Joseph became more revered, and its spread in England after the Protestant Reformation. Later bearers of the feminine name named by Wikipedia include Josephine Bakhita (1869–1947), a Catholic saint, and Josephine Baker (1906–1975), dancer and singer. Wikipedia notes that in 2017 Josephine was the 107th most popular girls' name in the United States; by 2025 it had climbed to #53.

Josephine ranked #53 for girls in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration). Wikipedia records it at 107th in 2017, so the name has risen roughly fifty places in eight years. Behind the Name's entry carries no popularity statement of its own; the masculine Joseph, by contrast, has stayed within the US top 25 since 1880 according to Behind the Name's Joseph entry.

English Josephine is /ˈd͡ʒoʊ.sə.fiːn/ (Behind the Name), three syllables with the stress on the first, JOH-sə-feen; Wikipedia gives /ˈdʒoʊsəfiːn, -zə-/, allowing a z sound in the middle. Behind the Name gives German /jo.ze.ˈfiː.nə/, with the stress on the third syllable and a sounded final vowel; Wikipedia gives French [ʒozefin] and German [joːzəˈfiːnə]. The other forms below come from Behind the Name's "Other Languages & Cultures" list; their pronunciations were not verified in this pass.

Josephine is a long, formal, slightly antique name that has come back precisely because it sounds like a great-grandmother: three syllables, a French polish, and an imperial namesake. Its real strength is the choice of short forms. Josie is friendly and current, Jo is brisk and unisex-leaning, Posy is whimsical, and the full name waits underneath for a résumé or a wedding invitation. It shortlists naturally beside Eleanor, Charlotte, Genevieve and Beatrice for parents who want vintage weight with an easy nickname.

The feminine name's story is dominated by one empress, with a saint and a stage star following. The bearers below are those named in the Wikipedia article consulted for this profile; the Behind the Name entry for Josephine names none.

Names that share Josephine's vintage-formal register, its Joseph family, or its three-syllable French sound.