Joy
Meaning of Joy
Joy is one of those crisp, one-syllable names that practically grins when you say it. Borrowed straight from the English word for happiness—tracing back through Old French joie to the Latin gaudium—it first caught on with the Puritans, who loved virtue names you could wear like a badge. Over the years, Joy has bounced up and down the U.S. charts, but she’s never wandered too far; around 400 little Joys arrive each year, proof that parents still crave her sparkle. Culturally, the name brims with feel-good echoes: “Joy to the World” at Christmas, the biblical “fruit of the Spirit,” and even that Pixar pixie in Inside Out. Call it a built-in mood booster—no one can yell “Joy, come here!” without sounding at least a bit sunnier. For families looking to bottle optimism in a single syllable, Joy offers an effortless, evergreen glow.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as joy (/dʒəʊ/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Joy
| Park Soo-young, known as Joy, is a South Korean singer, actress, and host who debuted with Red Velvet in 2014, starred in TV dramas, and released her solo album Hello in 2021. |
| Helen Joy Davidman was an American poet and writer, a child prodigy who earned a Columbia University MA at 20, won the Yale Younger Poets and Russell Loines awards for Letter to a Comrade, and authored several books including two novels. |
| Joy Reid - Joy-Ann M. Lomena-Reid is an American political commentator and television host best known for hosting The ReidOut on MSNBC from 2020 to 2025, after earlier hosting The Reid Report and AM Joy. |
| Joy Adamson was a naturalist, artist, and author whose book Born Free about raising the lion cub Elsa became an Academy Award winning film, and she received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art in 1977. |
| Joy Mangano is an American inventor and entrepreneur best known for the Miracle Mop, former president of Ingenious Designs and longtime HSN presenter, and founder and CEO of Clean Boss. |
| Joy Elizabeth Williams is an American singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy winner with several solo releases who was half of The Civil Wars from 2009 to 2014. |
| Joy G. Dryfoos was an American sociologist credited with pioneering the idea of full service schools. |
| Joy Chant, the pen name of Eileen Joyce Rutter, is a British fantasy writer best known for the House of Kendreth trilogy published from 1970 to 1983. |
| Carolyn Joy Chambers Grundy was an Australian actress, author, poet, and businesswoman who worked on and appeared in Reg Grundy productions, served on the Grundys Worldwide board, cofounded RG Capital Holdings, and later wrote historical novels. |
| Joy Michael was an Indian theatre personality, co-founder of the Yatrik repertory in Delhi, and a 2012 Padma Shri honoree. |
| Sourav Sarkar, known as Joy Sarkar, is a Kolkata based Bengali film composer behind scores for Jodi Ekdin, Muktodhara, and many other films. |
