first name
JOY
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 117,520 people named Joy, 70.3% reported their origin as White, 14.5% as Black and 7.7% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 98.5% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
What should your name go on next?
Thanks! We'll make the most-wanted one next.
Joy peaked in 1957, when 2,945 babies got the name.
At least 143,324 babies have been given the name since 1883. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Joy by decade
Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #284 in the 1930s and 1950s. The largest share of babies named Joy, 30.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Joy is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Joy has been most common in Hawaii (2.5×), Oklahoma (1.8×), and Arkansas (1.4×), and least common in Vermont (0.24×).
137,501 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Joy
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Joy, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Joy ranks #2,532 of 156,621, with 13,910 people. See Joy as a last name
Compare
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