Yusuf — Name Meaning in Islam

Origin: Hebrew Yosef, "He shall add / God increases", carried into Arabic as Yūsuf. It is one of the names the Qur'an keeps in its original form rather than translating.

Who carried it: the Prophet Yusuf, son of Yaqub. He is the only Prophet whose story the Qur'an tells complete and in order, in a single chapter — Surah Yusuf, the twelfth, which the Qur'an itself calls aḥsan al-qaṣaṣ, the most beautiful of narrations (12:3). The account runs from the dream of eleven stars to the reunion in Egypt, and its subject is patience under injustice.

In the sources: the Prophet ﷺ described Yusuf as having been given a share of beauty, and the sūra names the women of the city who cut their hands at the sight of him (12:31).

Spellings: Yusuf, Yousef, Youssef, Yusif, Yusuf (Turkish), Yusuf (Indonesian), Yousuf (Urdu), يوسف.

Pronunciation: YOO-suf.

Feminine counterpart: none formed from this name; Yusra is a separate name from a separate root.