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Josette

#1,836 in 2025Girls' name

Diminutive of Joséphine

Josette has been given to 6,659 babies in the U.S. since 1916. In 2025 it ranked #1,836 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1968, with 504 recorded.

Babies named Josette, 2025

1 in 30,400

Josette over time, 1880–2025

Girls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Josette: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Joséphine

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Josette means

Josette is a diminutive of Joséphine.

Origin, language, and formation

Josette is used in French.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Joséphine.

Pronunciation and spelling

In French, Josette is pronounced /ʒo.zɛt/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,659 girls were recorded with the name Josette between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 504 in 1968; its best national rank was #417 in 1968.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,387 in 2020 to #1,836 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,758 in 2015 to #1,836 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Josette?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 30,400
109 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 14,700
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,836
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
21,083 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Josette sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 21,083 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Josette. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Josettes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Josette was born before 1973 — so the typical Josette is around 52 today.

Median birth year
1973
About 52 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
21.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
22.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
6,072
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 21.5% of all recorded uses (1,435).

Is Josette rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+387
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+551
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+922
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.70×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
21.6%
Peak was 1968 (504)
Years since peak
57
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
26.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#417
1968

Spellings of Josette

Josette is not the most common spelling — Janette is, with 23.2% against Josette's 4.8%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Josette is used

Across 2016–2025, Josette was most concentrated in Michigan — about 1 in 20,000 girls, against 1 in 31,116 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in 100,000).

15 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Michigan1 in 20,000
  2. 2Minnesota1 in 20,000
  3. 3Florida1 in 25,000
  4. 4Ohio1 in 25,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 25,000
  6. 6California1 in 33,333
  7. 7Georgia1 in 33,333
  8. 8Arizona1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Josette around the world

Where Josette ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2021
    #5,581
    in 2021
  • France
    1900–2013
    #7,084
    in 2013
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #2,104
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1949–2005
    #775
    in 2005

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Josette

People whose public names include Josette, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Josette in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Josette. Linked forms have their own page here.

JoetteJoletteJovetteJosefineJosita

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Josette by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,836
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 551
Best rank ever
#417
1968
Peak year
1968
504 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,659
Count in 2025
109

Names similar to Josette

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JoselinJoslynnJoselynJosslynJosalynJosephJosefaJoslynJoselineJosselynArletteJosefinaLisetteJoshlynLinetteDanetteJosilynLizetteJoscelynJossieBabetteCosetteVioletteEvette

Names with a curve like Josette

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Josette, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

EvetteVenusAletheaJolynnSharlaMelonieLinetteJonnaColletteAnnemarieMarnieBarbie

Sibling names for Josette

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Josette

Top names of 1968, Josette's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1968Girls' names starting with JUncommon French Girl Names