José

See also: Jose, JOSE, and jose

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish or Portuguese José.

Proper noun

José

1. A male given name from Spanish, variant of Jose.
   • 2006, Cynthia Ongpin Valdes, At My Grandfather's Knee: A Portrait of Alfonso T. Ongpin‎^[1], →ISBN, page 175:

     As an ardent admirer and devotee of Dr José Rizal, he collected Rizaliana material, going to great lengths to woo the sisters of Rizal in order for them to sell to him precious Rizaliana items.

   • 2015 April 11, Tovin Lapan, “California birth certificates and accents: O’Connor alright, Ramón and José is not”, in The Guardian‎^[2], archived from the original on 4 April 2025:

     Every year in California thousands of parents choose names such as José, Andrés and Sofía for their children, often honoring the memory of a deceased grandmother, aunt or sibling. On the state-issued birth certificates, though, those names will be spelled incorrectly.

Derived terms

• San José Cancasque
• San José Guayabal
• San José Villanueva

French

Etymology

An old French vernacular form of Joseph.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒo.ze/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

José m

1. a male given name

Related terms

• Josée
• Joseph
• Marie-José

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese Josep, from Latin Iōsēphus, from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʒoˈzɛ/, /ʒuˈzɛ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʒoˈzɛ/, /ʒuˈzɛ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʒoˈzɛ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʒuˈzɛ/

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Hyphenation: Jo‧sé

Proper noun

José m (plural Josés)

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Joseph; diminutive form Zé
2. (biblical) Joseph (favourite son of Jacob)
3. (biblical) Joseph (husband of Virgin Mary)

Derived terms

• (pet form) Zé

Related terms

• Giuseppe
• Josefa
• Josefo
• Josepe

Spanish

Alternative forms

• Jose, Josép, Josep, Joséf, Josef, Josépe, Josepe, Josefe, Joséfe, Joséph, Joseph

Etymology

From Old Spanish Josep, Joseph, José, derived from Latin Iōsēphus, from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף (yôsēp̄). Compare Sicilian Giusè.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xoˈse/ [xoˈse]
• Rhymes: -e

• IPA^(key): /ˈxose/ [ˈxo.se]
• Rhymes: -ose

Proper noun

José m

1. a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek, in turn from Hebrew], feminine equivalent Josefa, equivalent to English Joseph; diminutive forms Che, Coché, Josecito, Joselito, Pepe, Pepito
2. (biblical) Joseph, son of Jacob (Israel)
3. (biblical) Joseph, father of Jesus
4. the letter J in the Spanish spelling alphabet

Quotations

• 1602, Casiodoro de Reina, La Santa Biblia, rev., Génesis 37:3:
• : Y amaba Israel á José más que á todos sus hijos, porque le había tenido en su vejez: y le hizo una ropa de diversos colores.
• 1602, Casiodoro de Reina, La Santa Biblia, rev., Mateo 1:18:
• : Y el nacimiento de Jesucristo fué así: Que siendo María su madre desposada con José, antes que se juntasen, se halló haber concebido del Espíritu Santo.

Derived terms

• Jesús, María y José
• José Ignacio
• José María
• María José
• San José

Descendants

• → Cebuano: Jose
• → Chinese: 何塞 (Hésāi) (transliteration)
• → English: Jose
• → Tagalog: Jose
• → Unami: Nxusè

Further reading

• “José”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025