Josef

[ˈjoːzɛf]

/[ˈjoːzɛf]/ name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Josef” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #2,072. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,072
frequency rank, German
699
“J” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - männlicher Vorname

Corpus desk

Index DE-josef · Josef · German

Josef · rank #2,072 · 7 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,072
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 699
  • PHOTO-FINISH Johann

Nearest frequency peer: Johann (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Josef“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Josef“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Josef vs Josua
60% similar
Josef vs Joseph
67% similar
Josef vs Joel
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Josef
PropertyValue
HeadwordJosef
LanguageGerman
Part of speechProper noun
IPA[ˈjoːzɛf]
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,072
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Josef“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Josefliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Johann“ (#2,071), „jährigen“ (#2,073), „Konzert“ (#2,074). Unter 699 „J“-Lemmata liegt „Josef“ bei #2,072. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around Josef (IPA [ˈjoːzɛf]), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #2,072 among 699 “J” headwords. Dominant gloss: "männlicher Vorname".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Josef, with forms such as "jjosef", "joesf", and "joseff". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Josua", "Joseph", "Joel", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Josef, spelled J-O-S-E-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    männlicher Vorname

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how Josef appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ich war letzte Woche bei der Hochzeit von Josef und Willibald.

This word in other languages

Joseph(English)José(Español)Joseph(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • jjosef
  • joesf
  • joseff
  • josfe
  • jossef
  • jsoef
  • ojsef

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Josef - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

jjosef1joesf2joseff1josfe2jossef1jsoef2ojsef2
Edit distance from "Josef"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Josef"?
"Josef" is spelled J-O-S-E-F. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈjoːzɛf].
What does "Josef" mean?
As a proper noun, "Josef" means: männlicher Vorname
What words are commonly confused with "Josef"?
"Josef" is commonly confused with "Josua", "Joseph", "Joel". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Josef"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Josef" is [ˈjoːzɛf]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Josef" come from?
"Josef" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Josef", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Heiss#2,068freue#2,058dient#2,055teams#2,089

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Warte7 variantsdesto7 variantsSimon7 variantsGerät7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list