ninan.org

Joyce

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~295,300 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,071 among girls
Births in 2025
233 512,232 since 1880
Typical age
74 years, median

Joyce popularity over time

Joyce rank by birth year, 1882–2025Joyce ranked #740 in 1882 and #1,071 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #11, in 1937.#10#100#1,000#1,071best #11 in 193718901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1882–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1942: 16,807 births recorded as Joyce. 1882 is the earliest year with at least five recorded births. It has held a top-100 place in 43 separate years.

The 2025 position is #1,071, on 233 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 31%. Year on year the rank dropped by 30.

Babies named Joyce per yearPeaks at 16,807 births in 1942.16,807 in 1942018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Joyce?

About 295,300 people named Joyce are alive in the United States today. That is out of 512,232 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Joyce?

Median age among living Joyces: 74. More of them were born in the 1940s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Joyce a mid-century name.

Your Joyce

Ages of living people named JoyceHalf of living Joyces are older than 74 and half younger.median 74020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Joyce is most common

The name is concentrated in New Jersey, at 1.7× the national rate. New York, California and Maryland follow.

Where Joyce is used more than average5 states use the name Joyce more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.7× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 1.7× the national rateNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.5× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: 1.3× the national rateKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.4× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Joyce is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Jersey 110 1.7×
New York 246 1.7×
California 478 1.5×
Maryland 53 1.4×
Kentucky 42 1.3×

Joyce in England and Wales

ONS recorded 22 births named Joyce in 2025, ranking it #1,407. That is 69% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Joyce comes from

Medieval (Middle English) given name from Old French Josse, name of a seventh century saint Latinized as Iodocus, from Iodoc, diminutive of iudh (“lord”), from Proto-Celtic *yowdos.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Joyce

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Joyce Banda 4th President of Malawi 1950 73
Joyce Carol Oates American author 1938 61
Joyce DiDonato American opera mezzo-soprano 1969 28
Joyce Jonathan French singer 1989 25
Joyce Meyer American author 1943 23
Joyce Chepchumba athletics competitor 1970 23
Joyce Cary Anglo-Irish writer 1888–1957 21
Joyce Van Patten American actress 1934 20
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 284 in 1913 to 474 in 1914 — 1.7 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/joyce.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).