Jocilyn
A feminine name derived from the medieval form of Jocelyn, meaning "little violet".
Name Census estimates that about 375 living Americans carry the first name Jocilyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jocilyn today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jocilyn births was 2009 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jocilyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
375
~ 1 in 914,012 Americans
Peak year
2009
28 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,946
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jocilyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 364 people with the first name Jocilyn, which placed it at #25,851 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,851
National first-name rank
People counted
364
364 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jocilyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jocilyn is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.7%) and Black (9.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jocilyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jocilyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.0% · 204
- Hispanic or Latino24.7% · 90
- Black or African American9.9% · 36
- Two or more races6.3% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Jocilyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jocilyn from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 168 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jocilyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jocilyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jocilyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jocilyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jocilyn
The given name Jocilyn is a relatively modern variant of the more traditional feminine name Jocelyn. The name Jocelyn originated from the Old French name Gaucelin, which derived from the Germanic name Gauzelin, composed of the elements "gawiz" meaning "bright" and the diminutive suffix "-lin." The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 12th century in France.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Jocelyn was Jocelyn de Brakelond, an English chronicler who lived from around 1150 to 1215. He is best known for his chronicle, which provides a detailed account of the daily life and affairs of the Benedictine monastery at Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England, during the late 12th century.
Another notable figure with the name Jocelyn was Jocelyn de Furness, an English Cistercian monk and theologian who lived from around 1175 to 1244. He served as the abbot of the Furness Abbey in Cumbria and wrote several works on theology and spirituality, including the influential treatise "De Vita Solitaria" (On the Solitary Life).
In the 13th century, Jocelyn de Welles, an English nobleman and landowner, was a prominent figure in the court of King Henry III. He held various positions of authority and participated in several military campaigns during the Barons' War in the mid-13th century.
During the Renaissance period, Jocelyn Geddes (1542-1619) was a Scottish scholar and theologian who served as the rector of the University of Paris. He was renowned for his expertise in Greek and Hebrew literature and contributed to the translation of the Geneva Bible.
In more recent times, Jocelyn Elders (born 1933) is an American physician and public health advocate who served as the Surgeon General of the United States from 1993 to 1994. She was known for her outspoken views on controversial issues such as drug legalization and sex education, which ultimately led to her resignation from the post.
While the name Jocilyn is a relatively modern spelling variation, it shares the same linguistic roots and historical significance as the traditional name Jocelyn. The name continues to be used today, although its popularity has fluctuated over time.
People
Jocilyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jocilyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jocilyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jocilyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 375 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jocilyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 914,012 US residents.
Is Jocilyn a common name?
We classify Jocilyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 383 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jocilyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jocilyn was 2009, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jocilyn is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jocilyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 364 people with the name Jocilyn, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,851 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jocilyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jocilyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jocilyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 369 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jocilyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jocilyn is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.7%) and Black (9.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jocilyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jocilyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.0% (204 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jocilyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jocilyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jocilyn in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jocilyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jocilyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jocilyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Jocilyn?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.