name has enjoyed significant popularity in its many forms in numerous countries, and Joseph was one of the two names (along with Robert) to have remained in the top 10 boys' names list in the US from 1925 to 1972. It is especially common in contemporary Israel, as either "Yossi" or "Yossef", and in Italy, where the name "Giuseppe" was the most common male name in the 20th century. In the first century CE, Yosef was the second most popular male name for Jews.

In the Book of Genesis