Joy

Where Joy comes from

From the noun joy, first used by Puritans in the 17th century.
— Wiktionary's entry for Joy
  • English
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Joy through the years
  1. 1885
    First appearance
    #745 among girls with 9 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1885
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  3. 1910
    Joy Adamson born
    Austrian-British naturalist, painter, writer, collector and illustrator
  4. 1942
    Joy Behar born
    American comedian, television host, actress and writer
  5. 1974
    Peak, #109
    2,757 babies named Joy, its best rank.
  6. 1982
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #203.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from English.
Namesakes
  • Joy Adamson · Austrian-British naturalist, painter, writer, collector and illustrator, 1910–1980
  • Joy Behar · American comedian, television host, actress and writer, born 1942
  • Joy Harjo · American Poet Laureate, born 1951
  • Joy Lauren · American actress, born 1989
  • Joy Bryant · American actress and model, born 1974

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.