Girl
Joy
A straightforward virtue name that echoes the 17th-century New England tradition, though most of its U.S. popularity is 20th century. It is not as common as it was in the 1950s, though it has not disappeared. Today, it is comfortably in the mainstream in the registry.
Middle EnglishMiddle English "joie" – joy, happiness
Old FrenchOld French "joie," from Latin "gaudium" (delight)
Births by decade
1900s
428
1910s
2,028
1920s
7,862
1930s
13,594
1940s
15,798
1950s
24,699
1960s
21,922
1970s
20,274
1980s
11,810
1990s
6,295
2000s
6,017
2010s
5,917
Peaked in the 1950s · 136,644 total U.S. births since 1900