Meaning
Yousuf and Yousaf are the spellings most often used in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan for Arabic Yūsuf, Joseph. Yousaf reflects how the second vowel is commonly pronounced in Urdu and Punjabi.
In the United States
Yousuf has been given to more than 1,600 American boys since 1983 and peaked in 2022 with 101 births. Yousaf is rarer, with a peak of 20 births in 2023.
A name with a legend attached
In Persian and Urdu poetry, Yusuf is the ideal of beauty, most famously in the romance of Yusuf and Zulaikha retold by the poet Jami in the 15th century. Calling someone "a Yusuf" in that tradition is one of the highest compliments available.
On the cricket pitch
Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistani batter, scored 1,788 Test runs in the 2006 calendar year, a record that had belonged to Viv Richards for three decades.
Fun factIn classical poetry, Yusuf was so handsome that guests at a banquet cut their hands peeling fruit while staring at him. Modern Yousufs report similar effects at weddings.