The name Joyce is a contemporary given-name used for females and rarely used by males. As a family-name, it derived from the Old French Masculine name Josse, which derived from the Latin name Iudocus, the Latinized form of the Breton name Judoc meaning "lord". The name became rare after the 14th century, but later revived as a female given-name, which derived from the Middle English joise meaning "rejoice". [1]
Saint Judoc (600–668) – Breton prince and hermit, the son of Judicael, king of Brittany. After his death, his body was claimed to be incorrupt, his beard and hair were trimmed from time to time by his followers (as was claimed for Saint Cuthbert). In 902, while the new minster at Winchester was being built, there arrived some refugees from Saint-Josse who brought with them the relics of their founder. Saint Grimbald enshrined them in the new church. Consequently, feasts of Josse were prominently kept at Winchester; His popularity in England may be deduced from the frequent Christian name Joyce (for both men and women) and from the use of his name in oaths by the Wife of Bath in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ("by God and by Seint Joce"). Through the discovery of a rival set of relics at Saint-Josse in 977 the cult of Josse also spread from Northern France to Flanders (where he is sometimes called Joost), Germany, Alsace, Switzerland, and Austria, where he is represented on the mausoleum of Maximilian in Innsbruck.
There are several notable individuals with the name Joyce:
Joyce Giraud (born 1975), Miss Universe 1998
Joyce Ladner (born 1943), American sociologist and author
Joyce Lambert (1917–2005), botanist and stratigrapher
Joyce Marcus, American archaeologist
Joyce K. Reynolds, computer science professor
Joyce Ann Tyldesely, British archaeologist, academic, and freelance writer
Joyce Winifred Vickery (1908–1979), Australian botanist
Joyce Ballantyne (1918–2006), American painter of pin-ups
Joyce Wieland (1931–1998), Canadian experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist
Joyce Chen (1917–1994), chef and restaurateur
Joyce Hall (1891–1982), American businessman and founder of Hallmark Cards
Joyce Nicholson (1919), Australian author and businesswoman
Film, television, and theater
Joyce Blair (1932–2006), English actress and dancer
Dr. Joyce Brothers (1927–2013), TV personality
Joyce Bulifant (born 1937), American actress
Joyce Carey (1898–1993), British actress
Joyce Chopra (born 1938), American film director
Joyce Coad (1917–1987), American child actress
Joyce Compton (1907–1997), American actress
Joyce DeWitt (born 1949), American actress best known for her role in Three's Company
Joyce Giraud (born 1975), Puerto Rican actress and model
Joyce Godenzi (born 1965), beauty queen and actress of Chinese and Australian descent
Joyce Grenfell (1910–1979), English actress, comedian and singer-songwriter
Amy Joyce Hastings (born 1980), Irish actress and descendent of the Joyce family of the Tribes of Galway
Joyce Hyser (born 1957), American actress
Joyce Jacobs (born 1922), British character actress
Joyce Jimenez (born 1978), Filipino American actress
Joyce MacKenzie (born 1929), American actress
Joyce Nizzari (born 1940), American model and actress
Joyce Randolph (born 1925), American actress
Joyce Redman (born 1918), British actress
Joyce Sparer Adler (1916–1999), American critic, playwright, and teacher
Joyce Van Patten (born 1934), American actress
Literature and print
Joyce Cary (1888–1957), Irish novelist
Joyce Cavalcante (born 1949), Brazilian novelist
Joyce Brabner (born 1952), writer of political comics
Joyce Dyer, (born 1947), American scholar and writer
Joyce Jillson (1946–2004), American syndicated astrologer, actress and author
Joyce Johnson (born 1935), American award-winning author
Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), American poet
Joyce Lussu (1912–1998), Italian writer, translator and partisan
Joyce Mansour (1928–1986), British-born Egyptian surrealist poet
Joyce Maynard (born 1953), American writer
Joyce Carol Oates (born 1938), American novelist
Joyce Carol Thomas (born 1938), African American playwright, illustrator and author of children's books
Joyce Auguste, Saint Lucian musician and leader of The Hewanorra Voices
Joyce Cooling, American smooth jazz guitarist
Joyce DiDonato (born 1969), American opera singer
Joyce Hatto (1928–2006), faux English pianist
Joyce Kennedy (singer), American singer with the funk rock band Mother's Finest
Joyce Moreno (born 1948), Brazilian singer-songwriter, formerly known as Joyce
Joyce Sims (born 1959), American singer-songwriter and pianist
Joyce Wright (born 1922), English opera singer and actress
Joyce Yang (born 1986), Korean pianist
Joyce Zhao Hong Qiao (born 1979), Taiwanese actress and member of music group 7 Flowers
Joyce Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, Conservative member of the House of Lords
Joyce Banda (born 1951), Malawian Member of Parliament
Joyce Beatty (born 1950), member of the Ohio House of Representatives
Joyce Butler (1910–1992), British Labour Co-operative politician
Joyce Cusack (born 1942), member of the Florida House of Representatives
Joyce Fairbairn (born 1939), Canadian Senator and first woman Leader of the Government in the Senate
Joyce Gemayel, wife of former President of Lebanon Amin Gemayel and mother of the assassinated politician Pierre Amine Gemayel
Joyce Hens Green (born 1928), American district court judge
Joyce Karlin, federal prosecutor, Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and two-term mayor of Manhattan Beach, California
Joyce L. Kennard (born 1941), associate justice on the California Supreme Court
Joyce Mojonnier, California Assemblywoman from 1983 to 1991
Joyce Mujuru (born 1956), Zimbabwean politician, co-vice-president of the Zanu-PF party
Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin (born 1944), British Labour Party politician
Joyce Elaine Roop (1952–1995), attorney and environmental activist
Joyce Savoline, Canadian politician
Joyce Steele (born 1910), Australian politician and the first woman elected to the Parliament of South Australia
Joyce Trimmer (born 1927), Canadian politician
Joyce Watson, Welsh Labour Party politician and Member of the National Assembly for Wales
Joyce Chepchumba (born 1970), Kenyan long-distance runner
Joyce King (born 1927), Australian sprinter
Joyce Moreno (footballer) (born 1974), Panamanian-Spanish footballer
Joyce Walker (born ca. 1961), American basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters) and coach
Joyce Wethered (1901–1997), British golfer
Joyce Ziske (born 1935), American golfer
Joyce Chiang (1970–1999), Taiwanese-American murdered in Washington, D.C.
Joyce Meyer (born 1943), Christian Evangelical author and speaker
Joyce Ohajah, British journalist and news anchor
Joyce was the surname of one of the Tribes of Galway.
Alan Joyce (born 1966), Qantas CEO
David Joyce (1825–1904), American lumber baron and industrialist
Morton Dean Joyce (1900–1989), of New York City
Patrick H. Joyce (1879–1946), American railroad executive
Ron Joyce (born 1930), Canadian billionaire and co-founder of Tim Horton's donut chain
Film, television, and theatre
Alice Joyce (1890–1955), American actress
Brenda Joyce (actress) (1912–2009), American actress
Elaine Joyce (born 1945), American actress
Ella Joyce (born 1954), American actress
Emily Joyce (born 1970), British actress
Natalie Joyce (1902–1992), American film actress
Peggy Hopkins Joyce (1893–1957), American actress
Yootha Joyce (1927–1980), English actress
Literature and print
Brenda Joyce (author), American author
Graham Joyce, English science fiction writer
James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist
Michael Joyce (born 1945), American author and professor of English
Patrick Weston Joyce (1827–1914), Irish author and brother of Robert Dwyer Joyce
Robert Dwyer Joyce (1830–1883), Irish poet
Stanislaus Joyce (1884–1955), illustrator
Archibald Joyce, English composer (1873–1963)
Don Joyce (musician) (1994–2015), member of the experimental music group Negativland
Eileen Joyce (1912–1991), Australian pianist
Mike Joyce (born 1963), British drummer with The Smiths
Barnaby Joyce (born 1967), Australian politician
Brian A. Joyce (born 1962), Democratic Senator from Massachusetts
Charles Herbert Joyce (1830–1916), U.S. Representative from Vermont
Eric Joyce (born 1960), British politician and member of Parliament
George Joyce (1618–1670?), agitator in the English Civil War
Jeremiah E. Joyce (born 1943), Illinois state senator
John Joyce (politician) (1839–1899), New Zealand politician
Kevin Joyce (politician), Illinois State Representative
Steven Joyce (born 1963), New Zealand politician
William Joyce (1906–1946), British Nazi propagandist (known as "Lord Haw-haw")
Gilbert Cunningham Joyce (1866–1942), educator and Bishop of Monmouth
Isaac Wilson Joyce (1836–1905), American bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church
Jeremiah Joyce (1763–1816), Unitarian minister and writer
Alan Joyce (born 1942), Australian footballer
Bill Joyce (1887–?), Scottish footballer
Bill Joyce (baseball) (1865–1941), American baseball player
Bob Joyce (born 1966), Canadian ice hockey player
Cecelia Joyce (born 1983), Irish cricketer
Don Joyce (American football) (born 1929), American football player
Dominick Joyce (born 1981), Irish cricketer
Ed Joyce (born 1978), Irish cricketer
Gus Joyce (born 1974), Irish cricketer
Isobel Joyce (born 1983), Irish cricketer
Jim Joyce (born 1955), Major League Baseball umpire
Joan Joyce (born 1940), softball icon, among other sports
Joe Joyce (born 1961), English footballer
John Joyce (footballer) (1877–1956), English goalkeeper, known as "Tiny"
Kaelan Joyce (born 1982), Gibraltarian amateur boxer
Kara Lynn Joyce (born 1985), American swimmer
Leilani Joyce (born 1974), professional squash player from New Zealand
Luke Joyce (born 1987), American soccer player for Carlisle United F.C.
Mark Joyce (born 1983), English snooker player
Matt Joyce (1972), American football player
Matt Joyce (1984), Major League Baseball outfielder
Michael Joyce (tennis player) (born 1973), American tennis player
Pádraic Joyce (born 1977) Irish Gaelic football player for County Galway
Regina Joyce (born 1957), Irish long-distance runner
Sean William Joyce (born 1967), English footballer
Warren Joyce (born 1965), English footballer
Gerald Joyce (born 1956), scientist
Kerry Joyce, American interior designer
Lucia Joyce (1907–1982), ballet dancer and daughter of writer James Joyce
Maolra Seoighe (Myles Joyce), Irishman executed by British authorities
Nan Joyce (born 1940), Irish Travellers' right activist
Philip Michael Joyce (1920–1942), U.S. Navy ensign for whom the U.S. destroyer escort USS Joyce (DE-317) is named
Rosemary Joyce, American anthropologist
Thomas Athol Joyce (1878−1942), British anthropologist
Joyce Barry, character in The Prisoner
Joyce Benson, character in the 1970s comedy Angie
Joyce Davenport, character in Hill Street Blues
Joyce Kinney, character in Family Guy
Joyce Summers, character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Gilda Joyce, character in the Gilda Joyce mystery novels
