Josefina

Josefina is a feminine form of Joseph used in several languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and Swedish. Its Hebrew ancestry gives it the meaning God will add. The spelling with f follows the conventions of those languages, while English Josephina retains the ph found in Joseph.

The opening j sounds different across languages: a Spanish reading and a Swedish reading will not begin alike. Fina offers a shorter form that avoids that initial difference, while other families use Josie. Josefina Guerrero, the Filipina who worked as a spy during the Second World War, is a notable historical bearer. The name combines an old biblical name family with distinctive lives in several modern naming traditions.