girls' name ★ peaked 1942

Joyce

Meaning lord Gender Girl · 1% boys Rank 2025 #1,074 Trend ↓ Falling 12%

Medieval (Middle English) given name from Old French Josse, name of a seventh century saint Latinized as Iodocus, from Breton Iodoc, diminutive of iudh (“lord”), from…

Rank 2025
#1,074
among girls · ↓32 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
233
named Joyce · -8% vs 2024
How common
1 in 7,112
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1942
16,807 babies
All-time total
512,232
#63 all-time among girls
First recorded
1882
in Social Security records

Joyce popularity over time

512,232 babies have been named Joyce since 1882, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
3.757.511.251518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 50 – 50 5 – #773
1890s 268 – 268 27 +436% #435
1900s 737 23 760 76 +184% #350
1910s 6,141 259 6,400 640 +742% #170
1920s 44,174 563 44,737 4,474 +599% #23
1930s 115,506 757 116,263 11,626 +160% #11
1940s 151,494 594 152,088 15,209 +31% #13
1950s 114,984 305 115,289 11,529 -24% #26
1960s 46,125 178 46,303 4,630 -60% #58
1970s 11,992 50 12,042 1,204 -74% #164
1980s 5,908 53 5,961 596 -50% #330
1990s 3,910 23 3,933 393 -34% #479
2000s 3,376 16 3,392 339 -14% #668
2010s 3,159 44 3,203 320 -6% #738
2020s (to 2025) 1,508 35 1,543 257 -20% #954

Where Joyce is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 221 0.14 outside top 500
2027 217 0.13 outside top 500
2028 214 0.13 outside top 500
2029 211 0.13 outside top 500
2030 208 0.13 outside top 500

Where Joyce is most popular

Girls named Joyce per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.154 per 1,000. Strongest in Kentucky, New York, and Iowa.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Joyce born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Kentucky 29 0.339 +121%
New York 116 0.293 +91%
Iowa 16 0.274 +78%
New Jersey 45 0.249 +62%
California 188 0.224 +46%
Florida 89 0.208 +35%
Arizona 24 0.171 +11%
Texas 135 0.168 +9%
Washington 24 0.166 +8%
Georgia 37 0.163 +6%
Illinois 36 0.157 ≈ national
Minnesota 16 0.148 ≈ national
Pennsylvania 34 0.144 -6%
North Carolina 26 0.114 -26%
Indiana 16 0.114 -26%
Ohio 24 0.101 -34%
Colorado 11 0.099 -36%
Maryland 10 0.094 -39%
Massachusetts 11 0.091 -41%
Virginia 14 0.082 -47%
Tennessee 13 0.082 -47%
Oregon 5 0.077 -50%
Utah 6 0.072 -53%
Louisiana 6 0.069 -55%
Wisconsin 7 0.068 -56%
Missouri 5 0.041 -73%
Michigan 6 0.033 -79%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Idaho – – –
Kansas – – –
Maine – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Joyce

Joyce is uncommon for girls in the United States, ranked #1,074 in 2025 with 226 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1882, 512,232 American babies have been named Joyce. Its peak came in 1942, when 16,807 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1940s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Joyce stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Joyce?

The median living Joyce is about 74 years old; half are between 66 and 81. An estimated 297 thousand people named Joyce are alive in the United States today.

median 74 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Joyce year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 226 #1,074 7 #10,164
2024 241 #1,042 11 #7,493
2023 237 #1,057 6 #11,495
2022 269 #984 – –
2021 274 #954 6 #11,402
2020 261 #977 5 #13,009
2019 287 #925 7 #10,257
2018 284 #940 – –
2017 325 #836 6 #11,448
2016 385 #738 5 #13,173
2015 332 #844 8 #9,143
2014 353 #796 7 #10,158
2013 328 #820 5 #13,054
2012 298 #890 6 #11,495
2011 264 #972 – –
2010 303 #877 – –
2009 287 #932 – –
2008 318 #876 – –
2007 342 #838 5 #13,346
2006 325 #831 – –
2005 324 #799 – –
2004 345 #758 6 #10,633
2003 345 #741 – –
2002 358 #700 – –
2001 370 #675 – –
2000 362 #668 5 #11,257
1995 372 #605 5 #9,548
1990 512 #479 5 #8,779
1985 537 #416 5 #7,054
1980 731 #330 8 #4,720
1975 1,126 #219 – –
1970 2,030 #164 13 #2,679
1965 4,128 #90 14 #2,220
1960 7,757 #58 26 #1,605
1955 11,287 #29 26 #1,521
1950 13,415 #27 28 #1,379
1945 13,950 #18 46 #957
1940 14,801 #13 83 #669
1935 11,368 #12 86 #634
1930 9,658 #18 76 #727
1925 4,364 #59 43 #1,061
1920 1,523 #153 62 #870
1915 640 #238 37 #1,061
1910 135 #338 – –
1905 79 #382 7 #1,037
1900 59 #435 5 #1,410
1895 29 #553 – –
1890 17 #657 – –
1885 7 #875 – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Joyce

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates American author (born 1938) Contemporary
  2. 2 Joyce Van Patten Joyce Van Patten American actress (born 1934) Contemporary
  3. 3 Joyce Meyer Joyce Meyer American author (born 1943) Contemporary
  4. 4 Joyce Banda Joyce Banda President of Malawi from 2012 to 2014 b. 1950 · Contemporary
  5. 5 Joyce DiDonato Joyce DiDonato American mezzo-soprano (born 1969) Contemporary
  6. 6 Joyce Jonathan Joyce Jonathan French singer (born 1989) Contemporary
  7. 7 Joyce Cary Joyce Cary Anglo-Irish writer (1888–1957) 19th century
  8. 8 Joyce Chepchumba Joyce Chepchumba Kenyan long-distance runner (born 1970) Contemporary
  9. 9 Joyce Sombroek Joyce Sombroek Dutch field hockey player b. 1990 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Joyce, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Joyce?

The median living Joyce is about 74 years old. Half of all living Joyces are between 66 and 81 years old.

How many people named Joyce are alive today?

An estimated 297 thousand people named Joyce are alive in the United States, based on 512,232 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Joyce mean?

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

How popular is the name Joyce in 2025?

Joyce ranked #1,074 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 226 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Joyce?

512,232 babies have been named Joyce in the United States since 1882, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Joyce most popular?

Joyce peaked in 1942, when 16,807 newborns received the name.

Is Joyce a boy or girl name?

Joyce is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Joyce rising or falling?

Joyce is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Joyce become more popular?

Joyce is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 208 girls named Joyce in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Joyce?

Well-known people named Joyce include Joyce Carol Oates (writer), Joyce Van Patten (actor), Joyce Meyer (writer).

Names like Joyce

Names that sound and feel close to Joyce: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Joyce with similar names → More names starting with J →