Josephine is the French feminine form of Joseph, from the Hebrew Yosef, and means "he will add" or "God will increase". Empress Josephine, Napoleon's first wife, made it fashionable in the 19th century, and the American-born entertainer Josephine Baker became a star in Paris in the 1920s. Josephine ranked number 288 in the United States in 2000, climbed from number 131 in 2015 into the top 100 in 2018 and reached number 53 among girls in 2025, its best rank in this century.