The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

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

Comments and insights on the name Josephine: | Edit

I was named after my grandma, Josephine. My grandma spells her name the Italian spelling which is Giuseppina. I have always been called Josie for short. I love my name. And I have always received compliments on my name. As a child, I was always the only Josie that I knew and loved it.

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.

Nicknames for Josephine: | Edit

Jo, Josie, Joey, Josette, Fifi, Fina, Phina, Jody, Posy, JoJo, Effie, Poppy, Sadie, Sephy, Fietje, Sophie, Fifine

Meanings and history of the name Josephine: | Edit

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.

Josephine, Texas, United States
Mount Josephine

The name Josephine has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean.

1984's Hurricane Josephine -stayed far away from U.S. coast, but was so large that tropical storm-force winds were felt at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
1990's Hurricane Josephine - wandered around Atlantic, performing a full loop at one point. Never threatened land.
1996's Tropical Storm Josephine - formed in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall in Florida and moved over the eastern states, causing $130 million in damage.
2002's Tropical Storm Josephine - short-lived storm that remained in the open sea.
2008's Tropical Storm Josephine - storm that remained in the open sea.

Famous real-life people named Josephine: | Edit

Empress of France, Josephine, married to Napoleon Bonaparte
Josephine Baker, dancer, actress, and singer
Josephine Earp, wife on Wyatt Earp
Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda, Princess of Denmark

Josephine in song, story & screen: | Edit

Josephine March (aka "Jo"), the tomboyish heroine of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women
Josephine, Tony Curtis' female alter ego in "Some Like It Hot"
Josephine Potter (aka "Joey"), character on the TV show "Dawson's Creek"

"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", song by Magnolia Electric Co.
"Dis-Moi Josephine", song by Josephine Baker
"Hello Josephine", song by Van Morrison
"Josephine", song by Chris Rea
"My girl Josephine", song by Fats Domino
"Josephine", song by Reamonn
"Josephine", song by Cubic Zirconia
"Oh Josephine", song by the Black Crowes
"My Girl Josephine", song by Super Cat
"Yes Tonight Josephine", song by Johnny Ray
"Hello, Josephine", song by Fats Domino
"Goodnight Sweet Josephine", song by the Yardbirds