Joy
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from English. From the noun joy, first used by Puritans in the 17th century.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Joy (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Joy has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2016. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | – |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2007 | 5 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 12 |
| 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | 11 |
| 2013 | 4 |
| 2014 | 7 |
| 2015 | 6 |
| 2016 | 17 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2019 | 10 |
| 2020 | 8 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 8 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 203 | 42 |
| 2000 | 205 | 46 |
| 2001 | 217 | 43 |
| 2002 | 216 | 44 |
| 2003 | 220 | 44 |
| 2004 | 227 | 43 |
| 2005 | 233 | 42 |
| 2006 | 242 | 44 |
| 2007 | 257 | 47 |
| 2008 | 269 | 48 |
| 2009 | 288 | 49 |
| 2010 | 310 | 49 |
| 2011 | 329 | 52 |
| 2012 | 349 | 52 |
| 2013 | 364 | 54 |
| 2014 | 376 | 54 |
| 2015 | 392 | 58 |
| 2016 | 421 | 59 |
| 2017 | 435 | 62 |
| 2018 | 459 | 63 |
| 2019 | 483 | 69 |
| 2020 | 497 | 67 |
Joy in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Joy.Hi! My name is Joy.
- Jag ska fika med Joy i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Joy this afternoon.
- Vet du om Joy kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Joy is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Joys mamma är lärare.Joy's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Joys mamma is Joy's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Joy
How do you pronounce Joy in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Joy in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Joy mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from English. From the noun joy, first used by Puritans in the 17th century.
How popular is Joy in Sweden?
8 babies were named Joy in 2022. In 2020, 564 people in Sweden had Joy as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2016 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.