Jozef
From Hebrew, where it carried a wish more than a label: "he will add", a prayer that God would grow the family. It's rare in Poland now, a name most people have never met, though a handful of boys still get it each year.
Jozef Pronunciation
Jozef is pronounced YO-zef (/ˈjɔzɛf/).
What Jozef means
Where Jozef comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Józef comes from Hebrew, where the name carried the sense "he will add." The words point past the child toward a family, a wish that God would increase it and give it more. Polish keeps that reading as niech Bóg pomnoży.
Christianity handed the name its great patron in Joseph, the carpenter who raised Jesus, and his feast on the nineteenth of March grew into a crowded name-day across Poland. Later it belonged to Józef Piłsudski, who led the country back to independence in 1918. Open an old school register and the name still sits near the top of its generation.
The name bends easily. Ziuta is its worn-down pet form, soft and small. For girls it turns into Józefa and the more ornate Józefina. The accented spelling, Józef, stands closest to the Hebrew root that began it all, "he will add."
When Jozef celebrates name day
Jozef appears 41 times in the Polish name day calendar, 3 of them as a main name, the first on 4 February.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
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in 113 days1 JanuaryFriday in 2027
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in 131 days19 JanuaryTuesday in 2027
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in 133 days21 JanuaryThursday in 2027
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in 141 days29 JanuaryFriday in 2027
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in 157 days14 FebruarySunday in 2027
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in 158 days15 FebruaryMonday in 2027
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in 159 days16 FebruaryTuesday in 2027
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in 162 days19 FebruaryFriday in 2027
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in 171 days28 FebruarySunday in 2027
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in 172 days1 MarchMonday in 2027
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in 188 days17 MarchWednesday in 2027
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in 194 days23 MarchTuesday in 2027
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in 195 days24 MarchWednesday in 2027
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in 205 days3 AprilSaturday in 2027
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in 206 days4 AprilSunday in 2027
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in 209 days7 AprilWednesday in 2027
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in 214 days12 AprilMonday in 2027
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in 219 days17 AprilSaturday in 2027
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in 229 days27 AprilTuesday in 2027
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in 232 days30 AprilFriday in 2027
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in 233 days1 MaySaturday in 2027
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in 272 days9 JuneWednesday in 2027
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in 286 days23 JuneWednesday in 2027
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in 291 days28 JuneMonday in 2027
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in 296 days3 JulySaturday in 2027
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in 297 days4 JulySunday in 2027
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in 300 days7 JulyWednesday in 2027
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in 315 days22 JulyThursday in 2027
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in 349 days25 AugustWednesday in 2027
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in 355 days31 AugustTuesday in 2027
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in 8 days18 SeptemberFriday in 2026
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in 44 days24 OctoberSaturday in 2026
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in 47 days27 OctoberTuesday in 2026
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in 59 days8 NovemberSunday in 2026
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in 65 days14 NovemberSaturday in 2026
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in 66 days15 NovemberSunday in 2026
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in 76 days25 NovemberWednesday in 2026
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in 105 days24 DecemberThursday in 2026
How many people are named Jozef
1 in 71873 men in Poland is named Jozef. 297 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1752 among male names.
Jozef's popularity over time
2 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1626 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2024.
Where Jozef is most popular
Jozef is most popular in Lesser Poland, 852% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025).
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Lesser Poland2 boys born+852%
Jozef as a middle name
Jozef is a first name for 297 men in Poland and a middle name for another 606, a 33/67 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 289th, between Francis (606) and Szczęsny (604).
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#287 Urban609
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#288 Francis606
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#289 Jozef606
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#290 Szczęsny604
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#291 Ambroży595