boy’s name
Joseph in Chinese
约瑟夫
yuē sè fū · traditional 約瑟夫
Joseph is usually written 约瑟夫 in Chinese, pronounced yuē sè fū. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Joseph, not for their meaning.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Tone | Meaning | Traditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 约 | yuē | first (high, level) tone | treaty, agreement, covenant | 約 |
| 瑟 | sè | fourth (falling) tone | large stringed musical instrument | 瑟 |
| 夫 | fū | first (high, level) tone | man, male adult, husband; those | 夫 |
Readings and meanings come from the Unicode Han Database (Unihan). In a transliterated name, the meanings of the characters are not read as a sentence.
Questions about Joseph in Chinese
How do you write Joseph in Chinese?
Joseph is usually written 约瑟夫 in Chinese, pronounced yuē sè fū. It is a transliteration: the characters are chosen to sound like Joseph, not for their meaning.
How do you pronounce 约瑟夫?
约瑟夫 is pronounced yuē sè fū: yuē in the first (high, level) tone, sè in the fourth (falling) tone and fū in the first (high, level) tone.
How do you write Joseph in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, it is written 約瑟夫.
Is 约瑟夫 a real Chinese name?
It is the usual way Chinese newspapers and books write the foreign name Joseph, so Chinese readers will recognise it as a foreign name. If you would like a name that looks Chinese, our free generator also suggests names chosen for their meaning.
How do Chinese transliterations work? Read how we choose your Chinese name.