Girl · Breton, through Old French
Joyce
Say it: JOYSS
Meaning
From the Breton saint's name Iudoc (Judocus), probably from a Celtic word for 'lord'; in the Middle Ages it was used for both sexes.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Used in medieval England for men and women, and later almost entirely as a woman's name.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1940s
In the United States
- 510,935 babies given this name since 1882
- At its height in 1941, about 1 in 77 girls
- 262 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Josse, Joice, Jocosa
| French | Josse |
|---|---|
| Breton | Judoc |
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Medieval European charters and records
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.