Meaning
Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף) comes from a root meaning "to add" or "to increase." In Genesis, Rachel names her son with a wish attached: may God add another son. It is, quite literally, a name that is also a growth strategy.
Where it comes from
Yosef is the son of Jacob and Rachel in the Book of Genesis (chapters 37 to 50). His story runs from a coat his brothers resented, to a pit, to slavery in Egypt, to prison, and finally to the right hand of Pharaoh, where he plans for seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. It ends with him forgiving the brothers who sold him. Few stories in any tradition have shaped a name so widely.
How it travelled
From Hebrew the name passed into Greek as Iōsēph, into Latin as Ioseph, and from there into nearly every European language. Separately, it entered Arabic as Yūsuf, carried by the Quran's twelfth chapter, and spread across the Muslim world from Morocco to Indonesia. Two great routes, one name.
Yosef today
Yosef remains a common name in Israel and in Jewish communities worldwide, alongside the Yiddish-influenced forms Yossel and Yossi. Yossi is a classic Israeli nickname, the equivalent of an American calling a Joseph "Joe."