# Joy (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/joy/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 13,413 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,684 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 23,018 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.3% (12,741 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /d͡ʒɔɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the noun joy, first used by Puritans in the 17th century.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Joy in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 78% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 7.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Joy in the United States and Australia.

## People named Joy

- Anya Taylor-Joy, American actress and model (born 1996)
- Bill Joy, American computer scientist
- Leatrice Joy, American actress (1893-1985)
- Melanie Joy, American psychologist
- Lisa Joy, American screenwriter and executive producer
- Hélène Joy, Australian actress
- Ernest Joy, actor (1878-1924)
- Megan Joy, American singer

## Similar surnames

Joe, Jo, Joo, Joh, Joya, Joye, Jay, Ji, Ju, Jia, Jha, Jew.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.