The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Joseph!

Comments and insights on the name Joseph: | Edit

I really love the name Joseph, but I hate the abbreviation Joe!

Personal experiences with the name Joseph: | Edit

Our son Joseph Matthew was born in 2007, we called him Joseph as we wanted something traditional and classic that would suit a baby and an elderly man (didnt want a pensioner lumbered with a daft name)!!! we call him Joe, Jo-Jo and Joey, i love the name and pleased we chose it!!!

Nicknames for Joseph: | Edit

Jack, Jody, Joe, Joey, JoJo, Joss, Seppi, Jo, Seph

Meanings and history of the name Joseph: | Edit

Of Hebrew origin, meaning "He will Increase," from Genesis 30:24: "And she called his name Joseph, saying: 'The LORD add to me another son.' "

Famous real-life people named Joseph: | Edit

St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary in the Bible. (I would leave this under two areas, this one and the story one)
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce tribal leader.
Joseph Haydn, Austrian classical composer.
Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda minister of Nazi Germany.
Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich, leader of Hitler's Bodyguard and the SS Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler"
Joseph Jonas, member of the band Jonas Brothers.
Joseph Smith Jr., founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Joseph Stalin, party leader and dictator of the Soviet Union.
Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI
Joe Biden, US Vice President
Joseph McCarthy, US Senator
Joseph Lieberman, US Senator

Joseph in song, story & screen: | Edit

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is a Musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The play is based on the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers.
St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary in the Bible
Joseph 'Seph' McCauley- Main Character of Cinda Williams Chima's novel The Wizard Heir.