Jose
A surname often taken as a Cornish form of Joseph, though some historical records may also reflect Joyce or other personal-name forms.
The #3,348 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,863 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical explanation is that Jose is a Cornish surname from the personal name Joseph, ultimately from Hebrew Yosef, meaning “he will add” or “may he add.” Cornish naming often shortened or reshaped biblical names, and one 19th-century source explicitly glosses Jose as a Cornish form of Joseph. Some older surname writers also thought forms like Jose could at times be linked to Joyce, so the origin is not always perfectly certain in every family line.
History
The name appears in medieval English records, especially in the west of England, where Cornish forms were common. Later surname dictionaries describe Jose as a well-known West Country surname, though they also note that it had been more familiar earlier as a personal name. In modern use it survives both as an English surname and, in some communities, as a family name with parallel surnames elsewhere in Europe.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical surname writer grouped Jose with several Cornish diminutives and derivatives, showing how strongly West Country naming traditions preserved altered forms of biblical and given names.
From the historical record
“lin is probably corrupted from Hugh. JOSE. A Cornish form of Joseph. K. KALINKISS. From gilly-kus^ the wood or grove of hazels. KALYNACK. See Keltnack.”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames