Meaning of the nameJosefa

Josefa is a feminine name of Hebrew origin, a feminine form of Joseph, from Hebrew Yosef, 'he will add'.

Meaning

“feminine form of Joseph, 'he will add'”

Source: Behind the Name: Joseph · Wiktionary: Joseph

People (2022): 274,653
Rank in Brazil: #112
Median age: 61 years
2010 Census: 342,606; people

Josefa in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Josefa, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1960s (63,638 people).

272,555 women 2,098 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Josefa is most common

States with the highest share of people named Josefa in the population, in the 2022 Census.

Sergipe 1.028%
Alagoas 0.716%
Paraíba 0.700%
Pernambuco 0.596%
Rio Grande do Norte 0.314%

All states

State	People	% of population
Pernambuco	53,976	0.596%
São Paulo	48,916	0.110%
Bahia	28,276	0.200%
Paraíba	27,830	0.700%
Sergipe	22,708	1.028%
Alagoas	22,383	0.716%
Ceará	14,089	0.160%
Rio Grande do Norte	10,356	0.314%
Rio de Janeiro	10,272	0.064%
Paraná	5,118	0.045%
Minas Gerais	4,620	0.023%
Piauí	4,617	0.141%
Maranhão	3,756	0.055%
Goiás	3,499	0.050%
Pará	2,529	0.031%
Mato Grosso do Sul	2,057	0.075%
Mato Grosso	1,915	0.052%
Distrito Federal	1,864	0.066%
Tocantins	1,254	0.083%
Santa Catarina	942	0.012%
Amazonas	895	0.023%
Rondônia	851	0.054%
Espírito Santo	679	0.018%
Rio Grande do Sul	615	0.006%
Acre	246	0.030%
Amapá	196	0.027%
Roraima	194	0.031%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Josefa

Behind the Name gives Josefa as the Spanish and Portuguese feminine form of Joseph. Joseph comes from Latin Ioseph and Greek Ἰωσήφ, which go back to Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yosef), 'he will add', from the root yasaf ('to add'). Wiktionary gives the same biblical Hebrew origin and links the name to the son of Jacob in the Old Testament. The meaning given here is that of the base name. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 274,653 people named Josefa, with a median age of 61; proportionally, the name is most common in Sergipe.

Sources

Behind the Name: Josefa · behindthename.com · origin
Behind the Name: Joseph · behindthename.com · meaning
Wiktionary: Joseph · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Wiktionary: Josefa · en.wiktionary.org · spelling
Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Josefa · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · spelling

Questions about the name Josefa

What does the name Josefa mean?

Josefa means “feminine form of Joseph, 'he will add'”, according to Behind the Name and Wiktionary.

How many people are named Josefa in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 274,653 people with the first name Josefa, which ranks it number 112 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1960s.

Is Josefa a boy's or a girl's name?

Josefa is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 272,555 women and 2,098 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Josefa?

Josefa is a name of Hebrew origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Josefa most common?

Proportionally, in Sergipe: 1.028% of the state's population is named Josefa (22,708 people), according to the 2022 Census.

More names of Hebrew origin

See all

Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Josefa with a source. See the methodology.