Pepe: meaning “God will add”, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

What it means

In Italian use, Pepe is a diminutive of Giuseppe. In Italian use, Giuseppe carries the interpretation “God will add.” In Spanish use, Pepe is an affectionate form of Joseph. Yosef means “God shall add,” traditionally understood as a hope that God would add another son to the family. Pepe is a variant of Pedro. In Spanish use, Pedro carries the interpretation “as solid and strong as a rock.”

Explained through its name family

Where it comes from

In Spanish use, Pepe is an affectionate form of Joseph. Joseph is the English and French form of the Hebrew name Yosef.

Explained through its name family

How it developed

In Spanish use, Pepe is used as an affectionate form of José. In Spanish use, Pepe is an affectionate form of Joseph. The shared background comes through Joseph: The English and French name continues the biblical Hebrew form Yosef. The idea of adding is part of the name’s original family context, rather than a later personality interpretation.

Combines direct and name-family evidence

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1957. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In Spanish use, Pepe is an affectionate form of Joseph. The history of Joseph gives this family its wider story. In Genesis, Joseph is Jacob’s son who is taken to Egypt and later reconciled with his brothers. In the New Testament, Joseph is also the husband of Mary, giving the name a distinct place in Christian tradition.

Combines direct and name-family evidence

Pepe through the years

Babies since 1880: 155; 155 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year: 1962; 11 babies
2025: 0; Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20: —; Too few births to compare

Pepe in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1957–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2002. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 11 in 1962. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,000 as a first name in 2020; 5,001 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Pepe’s family of names

Pepe is an affectionate form of Joseph. In Spanish usage, Pepe shares a linguistic root with the Catalan form PEP. Pepe has a related form in Pedro.

Walk Pepe’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Pepe has relatives in 7 languages.

9 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Dots on the border stand for languages further away. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 5

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 2

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 5

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

People named Pepe

Characters named Pepe: Pepe Carvalho (fictional character).

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Pepe, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Virtue

Sibling ideas

Names that share Pepe’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Pepe

A sister for Pepe

Your shortlist

Pepe