Joyce

Where Joyce comes from

Medieval (Middle English) given name from Old French Josse, name of a seventh century saint Latinized as Iodocus, from Breton Iodoc, diminutive of iudh (“lord”), from Proto-Celtic *yowdos.
— Wiktionary's entry for Joyce
  • Celtic
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1882
    First appearance
    #740 among girls, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1938
    Joyce Carol Oates born
    American author
  3. 1938
    Peak, #11
    12,698 babies named Joyce — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1950
    Joyce Banda born
    4th President of Malawi
  5. 1962
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #74.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Celtic languages, associated by folk etymology with joy and rejoice.
Namesakes
  • Joyce Banda · 4th President of Malawi, born 1950
  • Joyce Carol Oates · American author, born 1938
  • Joyce DiDonato · American opera mezzo-soprano, born 1969
  • Joyce Jonathan · French singer, born 1989
  • Joyce Meyer · American author, born 1943

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.