Jose
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name Yose, which is etymologically linked to Yosef or Joseph.
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- French
Meaning & Origin of Jose
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name Yose, which is etymologically linked to Yosef or Joseph.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- French
The Story of Jose
Jose first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1880, with 84 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 2002: 12,868 births, good for #30 nationwide. About 20% of every Jose on record arrived during the 1990s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Jose ranks #92 for baby boys with 3,745 births, gradually falling (-10%). All told, over 596K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1880s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Jose
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Jose. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Jose
Phonetically similar names — useful when Jose is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Jose
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In which U.S. states is Jose most popular?
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About the name Jose
Jose is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 596K births in the dataset. Jose's peak popularity came in 2002 when it ranked #28. Use the chart and map above to compare Jose's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2002 →
- Names of the 2000s →
- Names starting with "J" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.