Josephine
/ˈd͡ʒəʊ.zə.fiːn/
"josephine" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Josephine” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,868 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #18,868
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from French.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Josephine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒəʊ.zə.fiːn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #18,868 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Josephine” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Josephine is 9 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒəʊ.zə.fiːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,868 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A female given name from French.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for Josephine, with forms such as "jjosephine", "joesphine", and "josehpine". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French Joséphine, diminutive of Josèphe, feminine form of Joseph. Popularized in English by Josephine Bonaparte, the empress of Napoleonic France. The correct English form is Josephine, spelled J-O-S-E-P-H-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1A female given name from French.
Etymology
From French Joséphine, diminutive of Josèphe, feminine form of Joseph. Popularized in English by Josephine Bonaparte, the empress of Napoleonic France.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: jjosephine,joesphine,josehpine,josephhine,josephien,josephinne,josephnie,josepihne,josepphine,jospehine,jossephine,jsoephine,ojsephine
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Josephine - 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.
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
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Using “Josephine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is J-O-S-E-P-H-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒəʊ.zə.fiːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.