Josefa

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Josefa is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Czech given name34K records spelled Josefa16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, United States, Philippines, Spain

  Languages: Czech, Polish, Croatian

  Also written Yosefa, Josëfa, Йосефа, Josefá, Jósefa

• a separate given name15K records spelled Josefa3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Bolivia

  Also written Joséfa, Josefá

• Indonesian given name1.9K records spelled Josefa3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, Indonesia, Spain, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Joséfa

• Lao given name1.9K records spelled Josefa5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, Peru, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Lao, Thai

  Also written โจเซฟา, Joséfa, Jösefa

• Ukrainian given name630 records spelled Josefa32 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Poland

  Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Uzbek

  Also written Юзефа, Yuzefa, Йозефа, Иозефа, Jozefa

49 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Josefa is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, feminine form of Joseph

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In German, ) Josepha: in Deutschland seit dem 18. Jh. vorkommender weibl. Vom., weibliche Form von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• Feminine form of sosEE.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Dios proveerá

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• Feminine form of JOSEPH , used in Spanish, Portuguese, the Scandinavian languages, and Czech. Pet forms: Spanish: Pepa, Pepita .

  as a word

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 145 years between 1881–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Gabriela Silangb. 1731PHnot in their usual nameFilipina insurgent leader
• Josefa Ortiz de Domínguezb. 1768MXMexican insurgent (1768–1829)
• Maria Theresa of Austria-Esteb. 1773ITnot in their usual nameQueen consort of Piedmont-Sardinia
• Josepha Sophie of Fürstenberg-Weitrab. 1776LInot in their usual namePrincess Consort of Liechtenstein (1776-1848)
• Fernán Caballerob. 1796ESnot in their usual nameSpanish women novelist (1796-1877)
• Queen Maria Isabel of Spainb. 1797ESnot in their usual nameQueen consort of Spain (1797-1818)
• Mercedes of Orléansb. 1860ESnot in their usual nameQueen consort of Spain
• Josefa Iloilob. 1920FJPresident of Fiji from 2000 to 2009 (1920–2011)
• Imee Marcosb. 1955PHnot in their usual nameFilipina politician and former actress (born 1955)
• Josefa Idemb. 1964DEGerman-born Italian canoeist and politician

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 796 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Josefa?

We estimate roughly 527 thousand people bear Josefa (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Josefa have the most bearers?

Josefa is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled josefa.

Where is Josefa most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Josefa is densest in Spain — about 1 in 221 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Josefa compared with other names?

In Argentina, Josefa is the 294th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Josefa a male or female name?

Josefa is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Josefa mean?

Recorded meaning: Feminine of José