Given name
Josefina
Josefina is a feminine given name. It is used in Spanish, Swedish, Catalan, and Faroese.
Original FrenchJoséphine
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1887. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Josefina through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 13,967
- 35 boys · 13,932 girls
- Most popular year
- 1930
- 210 babies
- 2025
- 104
- #1,891 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +22%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 104 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,891 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 21.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 205 in 1930. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (15). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 45,594 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Josefina’s family of names
In Cebuano usage, Josefina has a diminutive in PINA. In Portuguese usage, Josefina has a conventional equivalent in the German form Josephine. In Spanish usage, Josefina has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Giuseppina.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Josefina has relatives in 15 languages. Lines run from its French roots to each of them.
Frenchwhere Josefina comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 14
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Josefina
- Josefina PláParaguayan sculptor, ceramist, dramatist, poet, and historian (1903–1999)
- Josefina MolinaSpanish film director1936–2026
- Josefina Vázquez MotaMexican politicianborn 1961
- Josefina CastellvíSpanish women scientist, biologist, oceanographer and writer1935–2026
- Josefina de la TorreSpanish actor, singer, novelist, poet (1907–2002)
- Fina García MarruzCuban writer (1923–2022)
- Josefina de VasconcellosEnglish sculptor (1904-2005)
- Josefina Álvares de AzevedoBrazilian journalist1851–1913
- Josefina DelandSwedish feminist (1814-1890)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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