Josefa

Girl · Hebrew, through Spanish

Josefa

Say it: ho-SAY-fah

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Spanish feminine of José (Joseph), from Hebrew 'he will add'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Very common in colonial New Spain and Spain.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1890s

In the United States

4,003 babies given this name since 1881
At its height in 1895, about 1 in 8,300 girls
6 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Spanish Mexican Central American Andean Argentine Caribbean

The family of the name

Other spellings: Pepa, Chepa

English	Josephine
Italian	Giuseppa
Portuguese	Josefa
French	Joséphine
Italian	Giuseppina

Famous bearers

Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, heroine of Mexican independence

Names worth a look

SoledadGirlSpanish 'solitude', from Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, the Virgin in her solitude after the Crucifixion.Colonial · peak 1901

NatividadGirl or boySpanish 'nativity', usually after the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (8 September).Colonial · peak 1928 · forgotten

EulaliaGirlGreek eulalos, 'sweetly speaking, well-spoken'.Rome · peak 1893

MontserratGirlCatalan 'serrated mountain', from the mountain and Benedictine abbey near Barcelona whose Black Virgin is patroness…Renaissance · peak 2014

LeonorGirlSpanish form of Eleanor, from Occitan Aliénor, of uncertain origin.Middle Ages · peak 1909

PilarGirlSpanish 'pillar', from Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the Virgin of the Pillar venerated in Zaragoza.Colonial · peak 2005

JosephBoyFrom Hebrew Yosef 'he will add', i.e. may God add another son.Biblical · peak 1914

JoséphineGirlFeminine of Joseph, from Hebrew Yosef 'he will add'.Revolutions · peak 1908

Where this comes from

Medieval Spanish and Portuguese chronicles and charters
Colonial records of the Americas
Parish baptism registers
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.