Josefina

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 12 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◐

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

• English given name336K records spelled Josefina14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Venezuela, Brazil, Netherlands

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Jósefína, Joséfina, Jöśëfīňa, Josefína

• a separate given name55K records spelled Josefina3 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Josefína, Joséfina

• Finnish given name32K records spelled Josefina6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Sweden, Philippines

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Josèfina, Josefína, Joséfina, Jósefina

• Czech given name19K records spelled Josefina10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, United States, Philippines, Poland

  Languages: Czech, Croatian, Polish

  Also written Йосефина

• Indonesian given name9.3K records spelled Josefina6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, Indonesia, Spain

  Languages: Indonesian, Malagasy, Malay

  Also written Josephina, Joséphina

48 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●

Josefina is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Swedish, Josefina är en femininform till → Josef. Det var populärt under 1800-talet, i vardagsbruk ofta som kortformen Fina. I både den rikssvenska och finlandssvenska almanackan 19 mars efter drottning Josefina (1807–76) (→ Josefin).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In Spanish, Diminutive of Josefa

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

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) — 136 years between 1887–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Infanta Josefa Fernanda of Spainb. 1827ESnot in their usual nameSpanish infanta of the XIXth century, morganaticly married to José Güell (1827–1910)
• Louise of Swedenb. 1851SEnot in their usual nameQueen consort of Denmark; wife of Frederick VIII of Denmark
• Josefina Plab. 1903ESParaguayan sculptor, ceramist, dramatist, poet, and historian (1903–1999)
• Fina García Marruzb. 1923CUnot in their usual nameCuban writer (1923–2022)
• Josefina Echánoveb. 1928MXMexican actress (1928–2020)
• Josefina Castellvíb. 1935ESSpanish women scientist, biologist, oceanographer and writer
• Josefina Molinab. 1936ESSpanish film director
• Carolina Herrerab. 1939VEnot in their usual nameVenezuelan-American fashion designer
• Josefina Vázquez Motab. 1961MXMexican politician
• Claudia Gallib. 1978SEnot in their usual nameSwedish actress

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 · 860 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Josefina?

We estimate roughly 126 thousand people bear Josefina (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Josefina have the most bearers?

Josefina is most frequently recorded in Venezuela, where it is most often spelled josefina.

How common is Josefina compared with other names?

In Venezuela, Josefina is the 13th most common given name of 213,120 given names recorded there.

Is Josefina a male or female name?

Josefina 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 Josefina mean?

Recorded meaning: a female given name, equivalent to English Josephine