| Josephine | Eliana | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | God shall add | my God has answered |
| Origin | Hebrew | hebrew |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | JOH-suh-feen | el-ee-AH-nah |
| Syllables | 3 | 4 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1961 |
| Peak year | 1918 (8,682) | 2025 (8,191) |
| In 2025 | 4,126 | 8,191 |
| Trend | Rising | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Josephine | Eliana |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 20,976 | 33,359 |
| 2010s | 23,960 | 28,233 |
| 2000s | 13,924 | 10,715 |
| 1990s | 7,059 | 2,368 |
| 1980s | 4,732 | 1,208 |
| 1970s | 5,154 | 150 |
| 1960s | 9,317 | 71 |
| 1950s | 16,412 | 0 |
| 1940s | 24,324 | 0 |
| 1930s | 36,051 | 0 |
| 1920s | 69,223 | 0 |
| 1910s | 61,355 | 0 |
| 1900s | 18,785 | 0 |
| 1890s | 12,463 | 0 |
| 1880s | 7,732 | 0 |
The feminine of Joseph, from the Hebrew, “God shall add.” Borne by Napoleon’s empress.
Hebrew reading parses it as El 'God' + anah 'he has answered' + a first-person yod, 'my God has answered' (per Kolatch and Alcalay). A wholly separate Latin origin also exists (Aeliana, feminine of the gens name Aelius, ultimately linked to Greek helios 'sun'); the Hebrew sense is the one carried here.
Eliana is more popular than Josephine today: about 8,191 US babies were given the name Eliana in 2025, compared with 4,126 named Josephine.
Josephine means God shall add (Hebrew origin), while Eliana means my God has answered (hebrew origin).
In US records, Josephine first appears in 1880 and Eliana in 1961, so Josephine has the longer recorded history.