How Many People Are Named Joy?
An estimated 97,831 people in the United States have the first name Joy. It is predominantly female (98.2%). The average bearer is 51 years old, and Joy peaked in popularity in 1957 with 2,945 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Joy as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Joy paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Joy is overwhelmingly female, 2,602 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
97,831
About 1 in 3,504 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
98.2% confidence
Average Age
51
years old
Peak Year
1957
2,945 births
Total Registered
142,535
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Joy
Joy is predominantly female (98.2%), though 2,602 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Joy as a male name
Ranked #4,952 in 2024
20 male births in 2024
Peak: 1922 (66 births)
Joy as a female name
Ranked #442 in 2024
702 female births in 2024
Peak: 1957 (2,929 births)
Joy: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Joy span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 24,701 babies were registered. Joy has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Joy by Decade
How has Joy tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 57 | 5 | 52 | |
| 1890s | 214 | 28 | 186 | |
| 1900s | 428 | 64 | 364 | |
| 1910s | 2,028 | 286 | 1,742 | |
| 1920s | 7,862 | 509 | 7,353 | |
| 1930s | 13,594 | 409 | 13,185 | |
| 1940s | 15,798 | 233 | 15,565 | |
| 1950s | 24,701 | 183 | 24,518 | |
| 1960s | 21,923 | 166 | 21,757 | |
| 1970s | 20,274 | 155 | 20,119 | |
| 1980s | 11,813 | 133 | 11,680 | |
| 1990s | 6,296 | 113 | 6,183 | |
| 2000s | 6,026 | 93 | 5,933 | |
| 2010s | 7,801 | 139 | 7,662 | |
| 2020s | 3,720 | 86 | 3,634 | |
Joy by State
Birth registrations for Joy span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Vermont, Alaska, Delaware. On average, about 2,682 Joys were registered per state.
Joy + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Joy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Joy
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
Joy: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joy?
We estimate approximately 97,831 people named Joy are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 3,504 Americans share this first name.
Is Joy a common name?
Joy is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 142,535 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Joy most popular?
Joy reached peak popularity in 1957, when 2,945 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Joy is approximately 51 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Joy a female name?
Joy is predominantly female. 98.2% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Joy Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Joy Smith, Joy Johnson, Joy Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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