Entry № 2760 · English origin

Joy Joy — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ JOY /
Gender
Girl
Origin
English
Meaning
"Joy, delight"
Syllables
1
Rank · US 2025
№ 342
First recorded
17th c. (English Puritan)

A name that means "joy, delight".

Joy is the English word — from the Old French joie, from the Latin gaudia, meaning "joys" or "delights." It became a Puritan virtue name in the 17th century, joining Faith, Hope, and Grace as direct word-names given to daughters.

Joy entered the U.S. top 1000 in 1880 and peaked in the 1950s. Today it sits in the U.S. top 350 and is rising — short, direct, with no need for explanation.

Joy. The word, as the name.

The name in its native script.

Joy
Transliteration
Joy
Pronunciation
/ dʒɔɪ /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Joy stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 342 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 95 in 1976
Babies named Joy · last year
947 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1880
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · №95 NOW · №342

Joys before her.

Real people
Joy Behar
American comedian, The View.
born 1942
Joy Mangano
American inventor.
born 1956
In fiction
Joy
Emotion in Pixar's Inside Out.
2015 film

Names connected to Joy.

The number behind Joy.

1

The Pioneer

Joy reduces to one — the number of singular brightness.

Why families chose this name.

"It is what we felt the day she came. The word said it."
Sarah · Mother of one · Nashville