How popular is the name Joy?

Joy ranks 291st among girls' names in US records, with 146,030 births since 1885. Over the past decade it accounts for 8,161.

Is Joy a unisex name?

No. Joy is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.

1957, when 2,998 children were given the name. It has been in use for 140 years and is still recorded as of 2024.

Joye. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.

Girl name#291 of girl names

Pronounced JH OY1 (ARPABET)

Joy is a girls' name, and first appears in 1885. It has been given to 146,030 children — the 291st most common girls' name on record.

It is gaining, with the past decade running 32% ahead of the one before it. Its best single year was 1957, when 2,998 children were given it.

Joye is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.

1957Girls: 2,998Boys: 16

These spellings sound identical to Joy and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

Phonetic detail

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

How popular is the name Joy?: Joy ranks 291st among girls' names in US records, with 146,030 births since 1885. Over the past decade it accounts for 8,161.
Is Joy a unisex name?: No. Joy is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Joy most popular?: 1957, when 2,998 children were given the name. It has been in use for 140 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Joy spelled?: Joye. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.