Potiphar, which is the normal English rendition, should really be Poti-Phar, and even that is probably an error for, or an abbreviation in the original Egyptian of, Poti-Pharaoh; though whether Pharaoh should in fact be Phar'oh, or even Par'oh, is not a debate for this page.
Genesis 37:36 has Yoseph sold to "Poti-Phar seris Phar'oh sar ha tabachim" (פוֹטִיפַר סְרִיס פַּרְעֹה שַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים), which is usually translated as "Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard", though this is incorrect. The word Phar denotes his title, not his name, and he is really a Poti-Pharaoh, a "little Pharaoh", while "tabachim" has nothing to do with guards, but a lot to do with butlers and bakers, because the "mitbach" is the kitchen, and a "tabach" was either the man who slaughtered the animals to be sent to the kitchens for preparation (see Exodus 21:37, 1 Samuel 25:11), or the cook himself (1 Samuel 9:23/24), but in this case, as we shall see, he was actually the priestly sacrificer, usually rendered with the root zavach (זבה) rather than tabach (טַּבָּח) - who had overall charge of the royal kitchens, and may also have been the royal executioner. In other words, Yoseph was "sold" to a priest of the temple.
Genesis 39:1 ff tells the story of Yoseph's time as "little Pharaoh" in the house of the priest, his attempted seduction by the priest's wife, his flight and arrest, accused of attempted rape, and his becoming "little Pharaoh" in the prison too.
Genesis 41:45 ff is the only time where the word used is the full Poti-Pherah (פּוֹטִי פֶרַע); all others are Poti-Phar (פוֹטִיפַר), though it is clear that the two are in fact variations on the same name.
Genesis 46:20 names him as the father-in-law of Yoseph, and describes him explictly as "Kohen On - כֹּהֵן אֹן - priest of On (Heliopolis). The daughter was named Asnat, and yes, it is rather odd that he should be married to a girl whose father had him jailed for supposedly attempting to seduce, or even rape, her mother, but who had actually tried to seduce him and then covered her failure with the outcome. Quite probably it was a different Poti-Phera - a different priest at the temple, or a different minister in the government, the word used in the way that we might refer to "the Archbishop" today, without specifying which one, or of where.
Phera derives from the same root as Pharaoh = Parah. See notes to PHARAOH.
If Yoseph married the daughter of the priest of On, then this must have been a sacred marriage, in which case Yoseph is the sun-god surrogate, as evidenced through his corn-storing, and thereby associated with Osiris.
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