Explore the Family Name Yousef

The meaning of Yousef

1. Arabic: variant of Yusuf ‘Joseph’. It is found among both Muslims and Christians. 2. Assyrian/Chaldean: from a variant of the Syriac personal name Yo(u)sep, an equivalent of the Biblical name Joseph. Compare Yousif and Youssef. Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Mohamed, Hasan, Mahmoud, Yousef, Bassam, Ibrahim, Mohammed, Abdel, Ahmad, Anwar, Ashraf, Emad.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Yousef in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Yousef has seen significant growth in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked at 18,827, but by 2010, it had leaped to a rank of 13,246, marking an impressive rise of approximately 30%. The count of individuals with this surname also increased substantially during this period, going from 1,344 to 2,305, which represents a surge of 71.5%. The proportion of people named Yousef per 100,000 followed a similar upward trend, increasing from 0.5 to 0.78, a 56% increment.

20002010Change
Rank#18,827#13,24629.64%
Count1,3442,30571.5%
Proportion per 100k0.50.7856%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Yousef

When it comes to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Yousef, changes were observed as well between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of those identifying as White rose markedly from 66.29% to 80%, a 20.68% increase. On the other hand, those identifying as belonging to two or more races saw a significant decrease, dropping from 21.28% to 6.59%, a decline of nearly 70%. The Asian/Pacific Islander group saw a modest increase, moving from 5.06% to 5.34%, while the Black category saw an introduction of 4.08% in 2010. Interestingly, the data shows no presence of Hispanic and American Indian/Alaskan Native identities within the Yousef surname holders during this period.

20002010Change
White66.29%80%20.68%
Two or More Races21.28%6.59%-69.03%
Asian/Pacific Islander5.06%5.34%5.53%
Black0%4.08%0%
Hispanic3.79%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%