Mention to "Tio Pepe" by padre Blazon

In Part IV, Chapter III, a fictional character, Padre Blazon (from Pamplona), tells Ramsay:

"And is not Joseph known throuhout Italy as Tio Pepe -Uncle Joe- and invoked by husbands who are getting worried?

I wonder if that mention to Tio Pepe could be mistaken. As far as I know, there's not such name for Joseph in Italian. Zio would be the right word, and I am not sure if Pepe should be Peppe; concerning Tio (no accent), that would be the writting in Portuguese; Tío (accented i) would correspond to other languages such as Galician or Spanish. Could any Italian reader elaborate on this or refute it?

Thanks.

A.