How popular is the baby name Josephine in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Josephine.

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Popularity of the baby name Josephine


Posts that mention the name Josephine

Popular baby names in Norway, 2022

Flag of Norway
Flag of Norway

Last year, the Scandinavian country of Norway (which shares a border with three other countries: Sweden, Finland, and Russia) welcomed 51,480 babies — over 25,000 girls and nearly 26,500 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Nora for girls, and tie between Jakob and Noah for boys.

Here are Norway’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Nora/Norah/Noora, 359 baby girls
  2. Emma, 337
  3. Olivia, 331
  4. Ella, 326
  5. Sofie/Sophie, 315
  6. Leah/Lea, 288
  7. Frida, 269
  8. Iben, 266 (tie)
  9. Sofia/Sophia, 266 (tie)
  10. Sara/Sarah/Zara, 262
  11. Maja/Maya/Maia, 258
  12. Ingrid, 253
  13. Alma, 249
  14. Selma, 247
  15. Emilie, 243
  16. Ada, 242
  17. Astrid/Astri, 235
  18. Hedda, 233
  19. Anna, 218
  20. Amalie, 211
  21. Ellinor, 210
  22. Aurora, 208
  23. Hedvig, 205
  24. Tiril/Tirill, 203
  25. Hanna/Hannah, 198
  26. Eva, 195
  27. Jenny, 186
  28. Mia, 184
  29. Vilde, 180
  30. Mathilde/Matilde, 177
  31. Ida, 176
  32. Lilly/Lily, 172
  33. Linnea/Linea/Linnéa, 163 (tie)
  34. Live, 163 (tie)
  35. Marie, 151
  36. Ellie, 150
  37. Sigrid, 149
  38. Thea, 145
  39. Julie, 143
  40. Amelia, 142 (tie)
  41. Luna, 142 (tie)
  42. Amanda, 141 (tie)
  43. Solveig, 141 (tie)
  44. Tuva, 139
  45. Mie, 133
  46. Agnes, 131
  47. Josefine/Josephine, 129
  48. Hermine, 121 (3-way tie)
  49. Signe, 121 (3-way tie)
  50. Ylva, 121 (3-way tie) – based on the Old Norse word ulfr, meaning “wolf.”

Boy Names

  1. Jakob/Jacob, 414 baby boys (tie)
  2. Noah/Noa, 414 (tie)
  3. Emil, 405 (tie)
  4. Lucas/Lukas, 405 (tie)
  5. Oliver, 382
  6. Isak/Isac/Isaac, 381
  7. William, 348
  8. Filip/Philip/Fillip/Phillip, 343
  9. Aksel/Axel, 321 (tie)
  10. Theodor/Teodor, 321 (tie)
  11. Ludvig/Ludvik, 310
  12. Oskar/Oscar, 300
  13. Liam, 282
  14. Johannes, 280
  15. Elias, 277
  16. Kasper/Casper/Kacper, 276
  17. Magnus, 270 (tie)
  18. Tobias, 270 (tie)
  19. Henrik, 263
  20. Mathias/Matias, 247 (tie)
  21. Olav, 247 (tie)
  22. Viktor/Victor/Wiktor, 235
  23. Ulrik, 230
  24. Matheo, 223
  25. Adam, 215
  26. Gustav, 208
  27. Muhammad/Mohammad/Mohammed/Mohamed/Muhammed, 206
  28. Sander, 205
  29. Alfred, 203
  30. Håkon/Haakon, 201 (tie)
  31. Theo/Teo, 201 (tie)
  32. Herman/Hermann, 185
  33. Benjamin, 179
  34. Jonas, 178
  35. Mikkel, 174
  36. Odin, 165
  37. Birk, 164
  38. Johan, 163 (tie)
  39. Leon, 163 (tie)
  40. Felix, 162
  41. Even, 157 (tie)
  42. Sebastian, 157 (tie)
  43. Vetle, 156 – based on the Old Norse word vetrliði, meaning “winter-farer,” and, by extension, “bear cub” (i.e., a bear that has lived one winter).
  44. Iver, 155
  45. Leo, 150
  46. Jens, 144 (tie)
  47. Markus/Marcus, 144 (tie)
  48. Alexander/Aleksander, 140
  49. Kristian/Christian, 133
  50. Sverre, 132 – based on the Old Norse verb sverra, meaning “to spin or swirl about,” and, by extension, “troublemaker.”

The two fastest-climbing names were Birk, which rose from 70th to 37th on the boys’ list, and Hedvig, which rose from 38th to 23rd on the girls’ list.

Home to more than 5.4 million people, Norway is — at the moment — divided into 11 administrative regions, or “counties.” (The original 19 counties were reduced to 11 in 2020; the current 11 counties will be expanded to 15 in 2024.)

Map of the 11 administrative regions of Norway
Norway’s 11 administrative regions

The top baby names within each of Norway’s 11 counties last year were…

Girl namesBoy names
Viken1. Olivia, 85
2. Leah, 76
3. Ella, 75
4. Emma, 71
5. Ingrid, 67
1. Noah, 102
2. Oliver, 97
3. Jakob, 95
4. Theodor, 88
5. Filip/Lucas/Oskar, 81 each (3-way tie)
Oslo1. Sofia, 63
2. Hedvig, 56
3. Nora, 50
4. Sofie, 48
5. Ada/Anna, 47 each (tie)
1. Mohammad, 77
2. Jakob, 65
3. Olav, 59
4. Noah, 57 (tie)
5. William, 57 (tie)
Vestland1. Ella, 52
2. Nora, 51
3. Emma, 50
4. Sara, 43
5. Sofie, 41
1. Emil, 61
2. Jakob, 53
3. Oliver, 48
4. Ulrik, 47
5. Lucas, 44
Rogaland1. Sara, 37
2. Frida, 36
3. Maja, 32 (3-way tie)
4. Nora, 32 (3-way tie)
5. Sofie, 32 (3-way tie)
1. Emil, 43
2. Noah, 42
3. Filip, 38 (tie)
4. Oliver, 38 (tie)
5. Lucas, 35
Trøndelag1. Selma, 33
2. Ada, 32 (4-way tie)
3. Emma, 32 (4-way tie)
4. Leah, 32 (4-way tie)
5. Nora, 32 (4-way tie)
1. Emil, 50
2. Oliver, 47
3. Aksel, 46 (tie)
4. Isak, 46 (tie)
5. Magnus, 38
Vestfold og Telemark1. Nora, 30
2. Olivia, 28
3. Ella, 23
4. Iben, 21
5. Emma/Sofie, 20 each (tie)
1. Emil, 34 (tie)
2. Noah, 34 (tie)
3. Lucas, 33
4. William, 31
5. Jakob, 29
Innlandet1. Aurora, 25 (tie)
2. Sofie, 25 (tie)
3. Ella, 24
4. Emma/Ingrid/Nora/Olivia, 22 each (4-way tie)
1. Emil, 35
2. Lucas, 31
3. Magnus, 29
4. Filip, 28
5. Oliver, 25
Agder1. Emma, 31 (tie)
2. Olivia, 31 (tie)
3. Nora, 27
4. Ella, 26
5. Leah, 24
1. Lucas, 40
2. Isak, 27 (tie)
3. Theodor, 27 (tie)
4. Henrik, 26 (tie)
5. Noah, 26 (tie)
Møre og Romsdal1. Anna, 18 (tie)
2. Nora, 18 (tie)
3. Olivia, 17 (tie)
4. Selma, 17 (tie)
5. Alma/Aurora/Emma, 16 each (3-way tie)
1. Noah, 26
2. Kasper, 22
3. Emil, 20 (tie)
4. Isak, 20 (tie)
5. Lucas, 19
Troms og Finnmark1. Ella, 18
2. Anna, 16
3. Amalie/Astrid/Emilie/Maja/Olivia/Sigrid, 14 each (6-way tie)
1. Jakob, 27
2. Isak, 25
3. Emil, 23
4. Johannes, 22
5. Elias, 19
Nordland1. Nora, 21
2. Ella, 15 (tie)
3. Iben, 15 (tie)
4. Emma/Frida/Ingrid/Signe, 12 each (4-way tie)
1. Isak, 29
2. Jakob, 24
3. Filip/Henrik/William, 17 each (3-way tie)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum?

Single-use names were given to nearly 8% of the baby girls and 7% of the baby boys born in Norway last year. We don’t have access to these unique names — the country doesn’t release names given to three or fewer babies per year (due to privacy concerns) — but here’s a selection of the names given to four babies:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Aase, Agathe, Annabelle, Anneli, Anny, Aud, Azra, Bjørg, Borghild, Cassandra, Cecilia, Daria, Eden, Elizabeth, Emely, Felicia, Gabrielle, Grete, Helen, Helin, Henrikke, Irina, Kamila, Kate, Kaya, Leni, Lidia, Marita, Martyna, Nadine, Norunn, Ragne, Ruby, Savannah, Signy, Silvia, Solvår, SylviaAbbas, Abdul, Adem, Ahmet, Ammar, Ansgar, Are, Arvid, Bogdan, Brynjar, Christer, Dani, Denis, Evald, Fred, Haris, Hassan, Hauk, Hubert, Hussain, Idar, Ingmar, Jamal, Jaran, Jarl, Kenan, Mahad, Mattias, Mehdi, Morgan, Niclas, Nikola, Oddvar, Olivier, Ove, Ravn, Roald, Rolf, Rune, Sean, Sigvald, Stanislaw, Steinar, Svein, Søren, Tønnes, Viggo, Wojciech, Yasin, Yosef, Youssef

Finally, here’s a link to Norway’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Navn – Statistics Norway, Sjekk listen over de mest populære navnene i 2022 – Statistics Norway, Uvanlige navn – før og nå – Statistics Norway, Births – Statistics Norway, Regions of Norway – Wikipedia, Counties of Norway – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Nordic Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Norway (public domain)
Map: Nye fylker by Furfur (public domain)

Popular baby names in Gibraltar, 2022

Flag of Gibraltar
Flag of Gibraltar

The British overseas territory of Gibraltar is a narrow peninsula jutting out from the southern coast of Spain.

Though the official language of Gibraltar is English, most Gibraltarians also speak Spanish. (In fact, the mix of Andalusian Spanish and British English spoken by locals has its own name: Llanito.)

Last year, Gibraltar welcomed 364 babies — “almost a baby for every day of 2022.” There were 179 baby girls and 185 baby boys.

And what were the most popular names among these babies? Sienna and Elijah/Leo (tie).

Here are Gibraltar’s top girl names and top boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Sienna, 6 baby girls
  2. Ava and Lucia, 5 each (tie)
  3. Emily, Isabella, and Valentina, 4 each (3-way tie)
  4. Amelia, Chloe, Isla, Lauren, and Lily, 3 each (5-way tie)
  5. Charlotte, Eliza, Elsie, Gabriella, India, Luna, Mia, Robyn, Sophie, Thalia, and Tiana, 2 each (11-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Elijah and Leo, 5 baby boys each (tie)
  2. Noah, Oliver, Theo, and Thomas, 4 each (4-way tie)
  3. Jamie, Lewis, Lucas, and Thiago, 3 each (4-way tie)
  4. Amir, Arthur, Erik, Freddie, Gabriel, Hugo, Isaac, Jack, Jacob, James, Jason, Joseph, Kai, Liam, Logan, Louie, Luca, Mason, Matthew, Niall, Nico, Ryan, Theodore, and Zayn, 2 each (24-way tie)

The rest of the names were each bestowed once. (Except for Riley, which was bestowed twice overall — once for each gender.)

Unique girl names (120)Unique boy names (93)
Ada, Adeline, Adelyn, Ahriella, Alba, Alessandra, Alis, Alisha, Aliyanna, Alona, Amaya, Amelie-Rae, Amira, Ana, Andie, Anna, Aoife, April, Arabella, Ari, Aria, Ariana, Arianna, Arieya, Aris, Aubrey, Avery, Cali, Callie, Celeste, Cipbelynn, Cora, Daisy, Daisy-Ray, Dayana, Elise, Ellen, Emma, Esme, Estella, Evelyn, Fae, Farah, Faye, Fern, Florence, Haley, Harlequin, Hayley, Ines, Jessie, Josephine, Josie, Julia, Kairo, Kennan, Kian, Killian, Kyel, Kylo, Kate, Katie, Kyla, Kythea, Layan, Layla, Leah, Leticia, Lina, Lottie, Maeva, Maia, Manuela, Margaret, Margot, Mariam, Matilde, Maya, Mayra, Melianne, Mila, Millie, Molly, Neriah, Nora, Nylah-Mae, Poppy, Presley, Quinn, Radhika, Raya, Renaelia, Rhianne, Riley, Roeeya, Rose, Ruby, Rumi, Sara, Savannah, Selina, Shannah, Siera, Snow, Sophia, Stella, Summer, Talia, Tasnim, Thea, Tillie, Willow, Winter, Yael, Yara, Yasmin, Yui, Zahra, Zaphyr, ZoeAbdurhman, Abel, Airam, Alaa, Alfie, Alfred, Andrei, Anthony, Archie, Ariel, Asher, Ashton, Austin, Axton, Bear, Benas, Bowie, Bradley, Cairo, Carlos, Charlie, Cody, Crislee, Dante, Domenico, Dominic, Dylan, Elias, Elis, Emilian, Emilio, Ethan, Evan, Finley, Frankie, Gary, Gian, Graham, Haroun, Henry, Hudson, Imram, Iyad, Jake, Jax, Jay, Jayce, Jayden, Jesse, Jonah, Joud, Leigh, Louis, Luis, Luke, Manuel, Marco, Mattia, Maxwell, Michael, Millel, Nassim, Nathan, Neo, Nicholas, Nicolas, Nilan, Noa, Nuveshshing, Nyan, Nyle, Oscar, Otis, Otto, Ray, Rayan, Remy, Riley, Rocco, Romeo, Samy, Scott, Sebastian, Shane, Stephen, Teo, Tommy, Tyler, Wael, Yaqub, Zachary, Zack, Zuhayr

Finally, here are Gibraltar’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

P.S. Did you know that John Lennon and Yoko Ono got married in Gibraltar in March of 1969?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Gibraltar (public domain)

Popular baby names in Paris, 2022

Flag of France
Flag of France

Paris, the capital of France, has an area of 41 square miles and a population of about 2.1 million — making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world.

Last year, Paris’ most popular baby names were Alma and Gabriel.

Here are the city’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Alma, 211 baby girls
  2. Louise, 210
  3. Emma, 152
  4. Jeanne, 150
  5. Anna, 144
  6. Adèle, 138
  7. Rose, 136
  8. Gabrielle, 133
  9. Chloé, 131
  10. Jade, 128 (tie)
  11. Léa, 128 (tie)
  12. Victoria, 126
  13. Alice, 120 (tie)
  14. Lina, 120 (tie)
  15. Sofia, 117
  16. Iris, 115 (tie)
  17. Olivia, 115 (tie)
  18. Juliette, 114 (tie)
  19. Victoire, 114 (tie)
  20. Romy, 113
  21. Eva, 111
  22. Joséphine, 106
  23. Ava, 104
  24. Fatoumata, 103
  25. Alba, 98
  26. Diane, 96
  27. Ambre, 94 (3-way tie)
  28. Nina, 94 (3-way tie)
  29. Zoé, 94 (3-way tie)
  30. Charlotte, 92
  31. Mia, 90
  32. Alix, 89 (tie)
  33. Julia, 89 (tie)
  34. Léonie, 88
  35. Sarah, 87
  36. Ella, 86
  37. Lou, 83
  38. Suzanne, 82
  39. Charlie, 81
  40. Nour, 78
  41. Héloïse, 75
  42. Mariam, 74
  43. Romane, 72
  44. Inaya, 68
  45. Agathe, 64
  46. Inès, 63 (tie)
  47. Maya, 63 (tie)
  48. Madeleine, 62
  49. Céleste, 59
  50. Aminata, 57 (tie)
  51. Fatima, 57 (tie)

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 332 baby boys
  2. Adam, 254
  3. Raphaël, 250
  4. Louis, 223
  5. Mohamed, 209
  6. Arthur, 199
  7. Isaac, 190
  8. Noah, 180
  9. Gaspard, 175
  10. Léon, 173
  11. Léo, 158
  12. Joseph, 154
  13. Paul, 150
  14. Lucas, 145
  15. Victor, 139
  16. Hugo, 119
  17. Alexandre, 118
  18. Jules, 116
  19. Sacha, 115
  20. Ibrahim, 109
  21. Noé, 103
  22. Augustin, 101
  23. Liam, 95
  24. Oscar, 94
  25. Samuel, 92
  26. Maël, 91
  27. Marceau, 89 (3-way tie)
  28. Simon, 89 (3-way tie)
  29. Timothée, 89 (3-way tie)
  30. Nathan, 88
  31. Basile, 81
  32. Côme, 80
  33. Aaron, 79
  34. Ethan, 78
  35. Auguste, 77 (4-way tie)
  36. Eliott, 77 (4-way tie)
  37. Moussa, 77 (4-way tie)
  38. Naël, 77 (4-way tie)
  39. Marius, 75
  40. Eden, 74
  41. Mathis, 72 (tie)
  42. Rayan, 72 (tie)
  43. Achille, 71 (3-way tie)
  44. Andrea, 71 (3-way tie)
  45. Valentin, 71 (3-way tie)
  46. Antoine, 70
  47. Charles, 69
  48. Ismaël, 68
  49. Léonard, 66 (tie)
  50. Martin, 66 (tie)

And here’s a selection of names from lower down in the rankings, which includes all names given to at least five Parisian babies (of one gender or the other) per year.

Girl namesBoy names
Aliénor (40 baby girls), Mahaut (26), Louison (17), Mahault (15), Cassandre (10), Kimia (9), Solène (8), Bertille (7), Astrée (6), Bamby (5)Gaston (34 baby boys), Mathéo (27), Ruben (23), Ambroise (21), Célestin (16), Camil (13), Louison (7), Thaddée (7), Barthélémy (5), Ennio (5)

The female names Mahaut and Mahault are Middle French forms of Mathilde, and the gender-neutral name Louison is a diminutive of both Louise and Louis.

Finally, here’s a link to Paris’ 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Prénoms déclarés – Paris Data, Paris – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Mathilda – dmnes.org

Image: Adapted from Flag of France (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Oscar in Scandinavia?

Oscar I of Sweden (as crown prince, in 1823)
Oscar I of Sweden

For a number of generations, the name Oscar has been particularly popular in Scandinavia — that is, the countries of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

Why?

The simplest answer is King Oscar I of Sweden. But the more accurate answer, in my opinion, is Napoleon.

The story starts with Scottish poet James Macpherson, who, during the early 1760s, published a series of epic poems. He claimed that they were his translations of 3rd-century Scottish Gaelic poems by a bard named Ossian, but many of his contemporaries were suspicious of this claim. (The current consensus is that they were composed by Macpherson himself and based largely upon Irish mythology. The name Ossian, for instance, is Macpherson’s interpretation of the Irish name Oisín.)

Despite the controversy, Macpherson’s poems became extremely popular throughout Europe. And they were very influential: “[I]t is arguable that these poems constitute one of the canonical Ur-texts of the romantic nationalisms which spread across the Continent” over the century that followed.

French military officer Napoleon was among the prominent admirers of Macpherson’s poems.

Incidentally, Napoleon had tried his hand at writing. One of his unpublished novels, Clisson et Eugénie, written in 1795, was based in part upon his relationship with then-fiancée Désirée Clary.

He ended up marrying a different woman, Josephine, in March of 1796.

And former fiancée Désirée went on to marry a different French military officer, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, in August of 1798.

Oscar Bernadotte (as a child, circa 1806) who later became Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar Bernadotte (circa 1806)

Désirée gave birth to the couple’s only child, a boy, in July of 1799. The baby was named Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte. “Joseph” was in honor of the baby’s uncle, Joseph Bonaparte — Napoléon’s brother, who happened to be married to Desiree’s sister. “François,” I presume, was a patriotic nod to France. And “Oscar”? Included at the suggestion of godfather Napoleon, the name Oscar referred to a heroic character from Macpherson’s poems. (Oscar was Ossian’s son.)

Later the same year, Napoleon became First Consul of the French Republic.

In May of 1804, he declared himself Emperor. Soon after, he promoted Bernadotte (and seventeen other generals) to the rank of Marshal of the Empire.

Bernadotte continued fighting in the Napoleonic Wars throughout the rest of the decade.

Then, in August of 1810, Bernadotte was unexpectedly invited to become heir-presumptive to the Swedish throne. The king of Sweden at the time, Carl XIII, was elderly and had no male heir.

(Why would the Swedes ask a Frenchman with no royal blood to rule their country? For several reasons, including: he had strong ties to Napoleon, he had proven military and administrative abilities, and, not least of all, “he already had a son to ensure the succession.”)

Bernadotte accepted. Several months later, he moved his family to Sweden. converted to Lutheranism, and was legally adopted by the king — thus becoming the country’s crown prince.

He became the de facto head of state right away, playing a key part in the formation of the Sixth Coalition (which fought against Napoleon from 1813 to mid-1814) and gaining control of Norway to create the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway (later in 1814).

In 1818, Carl XIII passed away. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte — under the regnal name Carl XIV Johan — ascended to become King of Sweden and Norway. His wife Désirée became queen, and their son Oscar became crown prince.

Oscar I of Sweden (in the 1850s)
Oscar I of Sweden

More than a quarter century later, in 1844, Carl XIV Johan (Bernadotte) himself passed away, and Oscar succeeded his father as King of Sweden and Norway.

This explains the popularity of the name Oscar in the countries of Sweden and Norway, but what about Denmark? Usage started to increase there in 1848, when King Oscar sided with Denmark (instead of Germany) in the territorial dispute over Schleswig and Holstein.

Usage of the name is still strong in all three countries today. In 2021, the baby name Oscar/Oskar ranked 14th in Sweden, 2nd in Norway, and 1st in Denmark.

Outside of Scandinavia, it came in 8th in England and Wales, 27th in Scotland, 30th in Ireland, and 44th in Northern Ireland.

Speaking of England and Ireland…the name Oscar became trendy in England during the 1880s and 1890s thanks to Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. Not long after he was born, in late 1854, his mother wrote to a friend: “He is to be called Oscar Fingal Wilde. Is not that grand, misty, and Ossianic?”

What are your thoughts on the name Oscar?

Sources:

P.S. The House of Bernadotte remains the royal family of Sweden to this day. Descendants of Carl XIV Johan include Prince Bertil (b. 1912) and Princess Estelle (b. 2012).