Joseph
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. Noun sense 1 (“one whose chastity is above temptation”) is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Joseph (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Joseph has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2015. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 23 |
| 1999 | 16 |
| 2000 | 25 |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | 20 |
| 2004 | 11 |
| 2005 | 16 |
| 2006 | 24 |
| 2007 | 22 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2009 | 16 |
| 2010 | 20 |
| 2011 | 22 |
| 2012 | 20 |
| 2013 | 20 |
| 2014 | 25 |
| 2015 | 39 |
| 2016 | 24 |
| 2017 | 23 |
| 2018 | 25 |
| 2019 | 30 |
| 2020 | 31 |
| 2021 | 25 |
| 2022 | 31 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 861 |
| 2000 | 897 |
| 2001 | 908 |
| 2002 | 932 |
| 2003 | 973 |
| 2004 | 1,010 |
| 2005 | 1,050 |
| 2006 | 1,084 |
| 2007 | 1,111 |
| 2008 | 1,158 |
| 2009 | 1,197 |
| 2010 | 1,270 |
| 2011 | 1,313 |
| 2012 | 1,371 |
| 2013 | 1,435 |
| 2014 | 1,520 |
| 2015 | 1,607 |
| 2016 | 1,718 |
| 2017 | 1,789 |
| 2018 | 1,843 |
| 2019 | 1,919 |
| 2020 | 1,998 |
Joseph in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Joseph.Hi! My name is Joseph.
- Joseph har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Joseph has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Josephs mamma är lärare.Joseph's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Josephs mamma is Joseph's mum.
More names
Questions about Joseph
How do you pronounce Joseph in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Joseph in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Joseph mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Hebrew. From Middle English Ioseph, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יוֹסֵף (Yoséf, literally “(God) shall add”); a son of Jacob. Doublet of Yusuf. Noun sense 1 (“one whose chastity is above temptation”) is a reference to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.
How popular is Joseph in Sweden?
31 babies were named Joseph in 2022. In 2020, 1,998 people in Sweden had Joseph as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2015 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.