Gender Masculine Usage Dutch, History Pronounced Pron. YO-sə-fuys(Dutch) jo-SEE-fəs(English) Meaning & History Latin form of Joseph. As a Dutch name, it is used on birth certificates though a vernacular form such as Jozef is typically used in daily life. In English, it is used primarily to refer to the 1st-century Jewish historian Titus Flavius Josephus.