Yousef

yoo·SEF · 2 syllables

Yousef is distinctive.

90/100

Strong Practical Fit

Balanced across pronunciation, everyday use, lifetime fit and international use.

Name Profile

Pronunciation & Spelling
Clear, with one common misreading
91/100
Everyday Use
Low risk
95/100
Growing Up
Strong lifetime fit
Works comfortably across child and adult settings.
82/100
International Use
Broad international fit
Works cleanly across the assessed languages and writing systems.
85/100

NAME DETAILS

DOCUMENTED USE: Masculine
CLOSE SPELLINGS: Yusuf; Youssef; Yousif; Yousuf
OTHER-LANGUAGE FORMS: Yusef; Yousif, Youssef, Yousuf, Yusuf; Youcef; Jusuf

ORIGIN & HISTORY

About the name

"He will add" or "God will increase," from the Hebrew verb yasaf ("to add, increase"); the same root and meaning underlie the English name Joseph.

یوسف (Persian), يوسف (Arabic).
Mythological and religious contextYousef/Yusuf is one of the prophets named in the Quran, and an entire chapter (Surah Yusuf) is devoted to his story, which parallels the biblical Joseph narrative (son of Jacob, sold into slavery by his brothers, later rising to power in Egypt). The name is used across Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Middle Eastern communities alike, reflecting this shared Abrahamic figure.

POPULARITY

Yousef over time

United States

#745RANK

Rank #745 gives national context, not a classroom forecast.

Uncommon in current U.S. usage. Ranked #745 in the U.S., 2025.

SourceU.S. Social Security Administration · 2025 release

Pronunciation & Forms

SAY IT

yoo·SEF

STRESS ON THE SECOND SYLLABLE

CLOSE SPELLINGS

Yusuf
Youssef
Yousif
Yousuf

OTHER-LANGUAGE FORMS

YusefPersian
Yousif, Youssef, Yousuf, YusufAR
YoucefAR/Maghrebi
YusupKurdish/Central Asian
JusufIndonesian

PRACTICAL LIFE

How This Name Lives

AT SCHOOL & DAY TO DAY

Two syllables and phonetically manageable for a young child, though English-speaking classmates and teachers may need the "you-SEF" stress pattern modeled a few times given the range of alternate spellings (Yusuf, Youssef, Yusef).

INTO ADULTHOOD

Reads as classic and religiously resonant across Muslim, Jewish, and Arab Christian communities for an adult man; carries the same underlying gravitas as Joseph in the broader Abrahamic naming tradition.

Cultural Footprint

Yusuf/Yousef is used across Abrahamic religious traditions: by Muslims (for whom it carries particular significance as the name of a Quranic prophet), by Middle Eastern Jews, and by Arab Christians.

Community Impressions

Yousef reads as classic and religiously resonant, carrying the same underlying meaning and prophetic association as Joseph across Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Middle Eastern communities.

How this name is commonly received · not used in the score

Names around it

JosephView →

YusufView →

CLOSE SPELLING

EDITORIAL SYNTHESIS

The Decision

Yousef is spelled without unusual letter patterns, and it holds up in everyday use. Surname-dependent compatibility remains unassessed until a surname is added.

STRENGTH

English speakers will most likely pronounce it correctly on the first try. Uses standard characters that systems widely handle cleanly.

BEST FIT

Everyday Use is the strongest-scoring part of this name — no obvious nickname traps, rhymes, or initial issues detected.

FULL-NAME CHECK