Josephine
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from French. From French Joséphine, diminutive of Josèphe, feminine form of Joseph. By surface analysis, Joseph + -ine. Popularized in English by Josephine Bonaparte, the empress of Napoleonic France.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Josephine (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, Josephine has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2000. 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 | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 47 |
| 1999 | 50 |
| 2000 | 63 |
| 2001 | 53 |
| 2002 | 52 |
| 2003 | 45 |
| 2004 | 34 |
| 2005 | 37 |
| 2006 | 26 |
| 2007 | 28 |
| 2008 | 25 |
| 2009 | 21 |
| 2010 | 28 |
| 2011 | 30 |
| 2012 | 41 |
| 2013 | 33 |
| 2014 | 31 |
| 2015 | 32 |
| 2016 | 23 |
| 2017 | 27 |
| 2018 | 20 |
| 2019 | 18 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2022 | 13 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,702 |
| 2000 | 1,782 |
| 2001 | 1,848 |
| 2002 | 1,919 |
| 2003 | 1,991 |
| 2004 | 2,028 |
| 2005 | 2,070 |
| 2006 | 2,114 |
| 2007 | 2,157 |
| 2008 | 2,209 |
| 2009 | 2,236 |
| 2010 | 2,289 |
| 2011 | 2,335 |
| 2012 | 2,391 |
| 2013 | 2,434 |
| 2014 | 2,473 |
| 2015 | 2,511 |
| 2016 | 2,552 |
| 2017 | 2,598 |
| 2018 | 2,625 |
| 2019 | 2,649 |
| 2020 | 2,685 |
Josephine in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Josephine.Hi! My name is Josephine.
- Har du träffat Josephine? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Josephine? She started working here on Monday.
- Josephine har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Josephine has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Josephines mamma är lärare.Josephine's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Josephines mamma is Josephine's mum.
More names
Questions about Josephine
How do you pronounce Josephine in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Josephine in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Josephine mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from French. From French Joséphine, diminutive of Josèphe, feminine form of Joseph. By surface analysis, Joseph + -ine. Popularized in English by Josephine Bonaparte, the empress of Napoleonic France.
How popular is Josephine in Sweden?
13 babies were named Josephine in 2022. In 2020, 2,685 people in Sweden had Josephine as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2000 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.