Joy Girl
How popular is Joy?
#419 girl name in 2025
747 baby girls were named Joy in the US in 2025, making it the 419th most popular girl name. Another 27 boys got the name (#3,948 for boys).
Joy popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #419 for girls (▲ 21 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 747 girls, 27 boys |
| 10-year trend | Steady (+2% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #430 in 2015, #395 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1957 (2,929 girls) |
| Highest rank | #109 in 1974 |
| First recorded | 1885 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 2% boys, 98% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.6% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Joy counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Joy family of names ranked #371 for girls in 2025 (#381 the year before), with 856 babies in all.
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Joy is most popular
Babies named Joy per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Maryland: 0.8 per 1,000 (88 girls)
- Nevada: 0.8 per 1,000 (36 girls)
- Virginia: 0.8 per 1,000 (131 girls)
- Connecticut: 0.7 per 1,000 (40 girls)
- Massachusetts: 0.7 per 1,000 (83 girls)
Joy by decade
| Decade | Baby girls | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 52 | #567 |
| 1890s | 186 | #537 |
| 1900s | 364 | #509 |
| 1910s | 1,742 | #358 |
| 1920s | 7,353 | #177 |
| 1930s | 13,185 | #144 |
| 1940s | 15,564 | #150 |
| 1950s | 24,518 | #140 |
| 1960s | 21,756 | #152 |
| 1970s | 20,119 | #109 |
| 1980s | 11,680 | #165 |
| 1990s | 6,183 | #362 |
| 2000s | 5,933 | #457 |
| 2010s | 7,667 | #335 |
| 2020s | 4,392 | #395 |
Girl names about as popular as Joy
Questions
- Is Joy a boy or girl name?
- Joy is mostly a girl name. Over the last 10 years, 98% of babies named Joy were girls.
- How popular is the name Joy?
- 747 baby girls were named Joy in the US in 2025, making it the 419th most popular girl name. Another 27 boys got the name (#3,948 for boys).
- When was Joy most popular?
- Joy peaked in 1957, when 2,929 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #109 in 1974.
- How many people are named Joy?
- 143,324 babies have been named Joy in the US since 1880. We estimate about 108,481 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 56.
- Where is Joy most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Joy was most common in Maryland, at 0.8 of every 1,000 girls born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.