The Baby Name Wizard

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

Comments and insights on the name Josephine: | Edit

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Personal experiences with the name Josephine: | Edit

1. My name is Josephine and I have never really liked it, the only other people I have ever come across with the same name are all over 60. I shorten my name to Jo but it means alot of people I have assume I have a more common name such as Joanna people also commonly put aan e on the end of Jo which is very annoying.

2. My name is Josephine, and I reckon the name is overdue for a revival. although I didn't like it as a child, I've come round to it, mainly because other people say they like it. There are advantages and disadvantages...

3. We named our daughter "Josephine" because it is a strong female name. She loves it. We also call her "Josie". She was named after my brother, Joseph. When our son , Oliver was born, we had a joke that Oliver and his Round Head dethroned the "Little Empress" (an allusion to both historical characters:Oliver Cromwell and Josephine Bonaparte).

Advantages:
*The name has not been really popular for a century, so, unlike many names, it does not date you, because it is not associated with a particular decade, era, or fashion.
* It will always be associated with Napoleon Bonaparte's wife, the Empress Josephine, which is pretty glamorous.
*Also, Jo in Little Women
*You won't be one of a crowd with the same name.
*The name doesn't seem to be associated with any particular social class or group.

Disadvantages:
*People will always shorten it to Jo, which is fine. But you do get idiots who spell Jo as 'Joe', even though they can see you are female.

Historical note: Josephine Bonaparte was actually christened 'Marie Josephe Rose', and was always known as Rose until she met Napoleon, who picked up her middle name and adapted it to 'Josephine'. So perhaps there's a chance that the name was invented by Napoleon? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who knows of the name being in use before the 1790s, when Napoleon met Josephine.

Nicknames for Josephine: | Edit

Jo, Josie, Joey, Josette, Fifi, Fina, Phina, Jody, Posy, JoJo, Effie, Poppy, Sephy

Meanings and history of the name Josephine: | Edit

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Famous real-life people named Josephine: | Edit

Empress of France, Josephine, married to Napoleon Bonaparte
Josephine Baker, dancer, actress, and singer

Josephine in song, story & screen: | Edit

"Josephine March" (aka "Jo") was the tomboyish heroine of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (and its sequels.)
"Come Josephine in My Flying Machine", song published in 1910
"Not Tonight, Josephine", song by Slade
"Josephine", song by Tori Amos
"Josephine", song by The Wallflowers
"Josephine Potter" (aka "Joey") Dawsons Creek
"Josephine", song by Magnolia Electric Co.