Yusuf
A Hebrew name meaning "God will add," carried today mostly through Arabic and Turkish families. Most Poles have never met one, though that's changing: more boys were given it last year than in any year before, and it goes to boys alone.
Yusuf Pronunciation
Yusuf is pronounced ih-OO-soof (/ɨˈusuf/).
What Yusuf means
Where Yusuf comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Yusuf begins in Hebrew, in Yosef, the biblical Joseph whose brothers sold him into Egypt. Its root means "God will add," a wish for a further child to come after this one. From that Hebrew source the name passed into Arabic and Turkish, where Yusuf became one of the most widely given men's names.
In the Quran, the story of Yusuf fills an entire chapter, the twelfth sura, which carries his name and praises his beauty and his gift for reading dreams. Across Turkish towns and Arabic-speaking cities it has named merchants, poets, and sultans.
It is short. Two syllables and a promise of increase.
In a Polish class register, Yusuf now sits among the Jakubs and Kacpers, often a marker of a family with roots reaching toward Istanbul or Cairo. The spelling holds firm, with no Polish variant to soften it. Whoever answers to it keeps the old meaning intact: God will add.
How many people are named Yusuf
1 in 32942 men in Poland is named Yusuf. 648 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1169 among male names.
Yusuf's popularity over time
10 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #721 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2018.
Where Yusuf is most popular
Yusuf is most popular in Masovian, 429% above the national average (13 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+83%).
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Masovian13 boys born+429%
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Lower Silesian2 boys born+83%
Yusuf as a middle name
Yusuf is a first name for 648 men in Poland and a middle name for another 94, an 87/13 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 745th, between Wadim (94) and Babu (93).
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#743 Said94
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#744 Wadim94
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#745 Yusuf94
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#746 Babu93
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#747 Luigi93