How popular is the baby name Jozef 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 Jozef.

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Popularity of the baby name Jozef


Posts that mention the name Jozef

New saint names: Damien, Jeanne, Nuno, Zygmunt

Next weekend, the Catholic Church will be canonizing five new saints:

  • Bl. Jozef de Veuster, a.k.a. Father Damien (1840-1889) of Belgium and, later, Molokai.
  • Bl. Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938) of Spain.
  • Bl. Jeanne Jugan, a.k.a. Mary of the Cross (1792-1879) of France.
  • Bl. Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski (1822-1895) of Poland.
  • Bl. Francisco Coll y Guitart (1812-1875) of Spain.

This is actually the second batch of saints for 2009. The first group, canonized in April, consisted of:

  • St. Arcangelo Tadini (1846-1912) of Italy.
  • St. Bernardo Tolomei (1272-1348) of Italy.
  • St. Caterina Volpicelli (1839-1894) of Italy.
  • St. Gertrude Comensoli (1847-1903) of Italy.
  • St. Nuno Álvares Pereira (1360-1431) of Portugal.

As far as saint names go, I believe Nuno is a brand new one. There are Bernardos and Gertrudes and Jeannes and Rafaels, but no Nunos.

Where does the name come from? Behind the Name suggests that Nuno is derived from the Latin word nonus, meaning ninth. Wikipedia, on the other hand, lists other sources such as the Latin word nonnus, meaning monk or tutor.

The Name-Letter Effect, or, why Mildred moved to Milwaukee

People tend to like the letters in their names more than the letters that are not in their names. This tendency, called the “name-letter effect,” may even influence some of the major life decisions people make. Studies have shown that people are disproportionately likely to…

  • Live in states or cities that resemble their names (i.e. Philip living in Philadelphia)
  • Have careers that resemble their names (i.e. Laura becoming a lawyer)
  • Choose brands that resemble their names (i.e. Peggy buying Pepsi)
  • Marry people whose surnames–or, less often, first names–begin with the same letter as their own (i.e. Jack marrying Jill)

The downside to this phenomenon is that if your initials match a negative outcome, you’re less likely to see that outcome as averse. This could make it harder for you to succeed. For instance, studies have found that:

  • Students whose first or last names start with A or B tend to get better grades and go to better law schools than those whose first or last names start with C or D.
  • Baseball players whose first or last names start with K (e.g. Kevin Kouzmanoff) are more likely to strike out than other players.

None of the above correlations are extremely strong, but they’re statistically significant. So if you want your daughter to reach the Supreme Court, you might want to name her Lauren instead of Cecilia or Deirdre. If your dream is to see your son play in the majors, you might want to play it safe and give him something other than a k-name.

(The researchers who conducted the aforementioned studies include Jozef Nuttin, Brett Pelham, Mauricio Carvallo, Matthew Mirenberg, John Jones, Tom DeHart, John Hetts, C. Miguel Brendl, Amitava Chattopadhyay, Leif Nelson and Joseph Simmons.)