Josef

name

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

"josef" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Josef” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,715. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,715
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male given name, variant of Joseph.

Corpus desk

Index EN-josef · Josef · English

Josef · rank #22,715 · 7 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,715
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH keel

Nearest frequency peer: keel (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Josef”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Josef” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the 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 Josh
60% similar
Josef vs joss
40% similar
Josef vs Jove
60% similar

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

Key facts for Josef
PropertyValue
HeadwordJosef
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters5
Frequency rank#22,715
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Josef”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Joseflands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “keel” (#22,716), “kilometer” (#22,717), “Johannes” (#22,712). Among 796 “J” headwords, “Josef” is #22,715. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around Josef, aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #22,715 among 796 “J” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Josef, with forms such as "jjosef", "joesf", and "joseff". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "Josh", "joss", "Jove", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is Josef, spelled J-O-S-E-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    A male given name, variant of Joseph.
  2. 2
    A surname.

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. A monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin erected in Moscow's metro is stirring debate, with some Russians welcoming it as a historical tribute, but others saying it's a mistake to commemorate someone who presided over so much suffering.

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 - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

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 English 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.
What does "Josef" mean?
As a proper noun, "Josef" means: A male given name, variant of Joseph.
What words are commonly confused with "Josef"?
"Josef" is commonly confused with "Josh", "joss", "Jove". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "Josef" come from?
"Josef" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

lemme#22,723livin#22,729lumps#22,733magma#22,735

Similar misspelling depth

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

iodine7 variantsgator7 variantsOgden7 variantsfated7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list