Josette

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◐

Josette is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name85K records spelled Josette10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia

  Languages: English, Dutch, German

  Also written Josétte

• Finnish given name183 records spelled Josette3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Josétte

62 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●

Josette 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.

• Modern French pet form of Joséphine, sometimes also used in the Englishspeaking world in the 20th century.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In French, a diminutive of the female given name Joséphine

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Forme féminine de Joseph; d'origine hébraïque, « Dieu ajoute ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• Pet form of soséPHINE.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In Spanish, French diminutive of Josèphe, i.e. Josefa/Josefina

  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) — 102 years between 1916–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Josette Andriotb. 1886FRFrench actress (1886-1942)
• Josette Frankb. 1893USAmerican children's literature advocate
• Josette Dayb. 1914FRFrench actress (1914-1978)
• Micheline Daxb. 1924FRnot in their usual nameFrench actress (1924–2014)
• Josette Banzetb. 1938FRactress
• Josette Sheeranb. 1954USAmerican diplomat
• Josette Simonb. 1959GBBritish actor (born 1959 / 1960)
• Josette Vidalb. 1993VEVenezuelan actor
• Josette Halpertb. 1994CAactress
• Josette JorgeCACanadian 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 · 479 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Josette?

We estimate roughly 8.1 thousand people bear Josette (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Josette have the most bearers?

Josette is most frequently recorded in France, where it is most often spelled josette.

How common is Josette compared with other names?

In France, Josette is the 196th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Josette a male or female name?

Josette 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 Josette mean?

Recorded meaning: French diminutive of Joseph/Josée, from Hebrew Yosef 'he will add'.