Joi
Feminine · “joy”
Joi is the English word joy spelled the way French would spell that sound. The word came into English from French in the thirteenth century and the spelling has gone back to where it started.
How old is the name Joi?
Joi first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Joi alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 5,900 people named Joi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joi most popular?
Joi peaked in 1981, reaching #912 nationally. Today it ranks #3249, 2,337 places below that high. See the whole 1981 chart.
Where it comes from
From gaudia to Joi
The story of Joi
Joy has been an English given name since the seventeenth century, when Puritan families used virtue words freely — Joy, Hope, Faith, Prudence. It rose again in the twentieth century as an ordinary rather than a pious choice. Joi is a mid-century American respelling that trades the y for the French oi, and it appears in the records from the 1960s onward, used chiefly in African-American families.
Meaning
joy
From Old French joie, from Latin gaudia, the plural of a word for delight; English borrowed it in the Middle Ages and it has meant the same thing since.
How the name formed
- gaudia
- joie
- joy
- Joi
Related forms: Joie · Joy · Gioia
Pronouncing Joi
JOY
One syllable. Identical in sound to the English word.
Nicknames for Joi
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 1981164 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #912reached in 1981
- Change vs 2023
- −34.2%48 in 2025, from 73
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Joi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joie in French — related form
- Joy in English — spelling variant
- Gioia in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Georgia, Texas, Florida.
Jois among us
people named Joi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 33,485 born in 2025 was named Joi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Joi
- #3249
- Joi on the 2025 chart
- #373
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Joi went to 48 girls in 2025, but Joy is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 795, which makes it the 373rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,876 places above the chart.
- Joy747
- Joi48
About 1 girl in 2,022 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 33,485 for Joi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Arnetta test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Joi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Arnetta climbed just as high around 1908, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Arnetta's path sketches the road Joi is walking now.
Joi sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Joi is headed
Joi should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Joi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Joi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and three letters — about as short and clear as a name can be.
- A settled, entirely positive meaning that needs no explaining.
- The spelling is closer to the French original than the standard English one.
- Joy is the standard spelling and will be written for her on nearly every form.
- Three letters gives no room for a nickname, which some families like and some do not.
- A word-name that names an emotion sets a small expectation the child did not choose.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Joi
Feminine · #3249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jois are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,900 people named Joi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Joi?
- Joi is one of 2 recorded spellings. Joy is the more common one — 747 births in 2025 against 48 for Joi.
- How popular is the name Joi in 2025?
- Joi ranks #3249 among US girl names in 2025, with 48 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Joi?
- About 1 in every 33,485 US girls born in 2025 was named Joi — 48 in all.
- Will my child share the name Joi with classmates?
- Joi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Joi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aisley#3249 · Quinley#3249 · Rosetta#3249 · Avalee#3249 · Unknown#3249 · Livi#3249 · Delina#3249 · Aniah#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Joi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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