Joli
A feminine French name meaning "pretty" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 1,052 living Americans carry the first name Joli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Joli today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joli births was 1969 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joli. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 325,812 Americans
Peak year
1969
37 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,642
Tracked since 1950
Popularity
Joli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joli from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 223 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joli 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 Joli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jolis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Joli, while Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joli
The name Joli is derived from the French word "joli", meaning pretty or lovely. It originated in France during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is believed to have its roots in the Old French word "jolif", which meant pretty or pleasing.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Joli can be found in the medieval French romance "Le Roman de la Rose", written in the 13th century. In this literary work, the name Joli is used to describe a beautiful and charming character.
Throughout history, the name Joli has been associated with beauty and grace. In the 16th century, a French noblewoman named Joli de Valois was known for her elegance and refinement at the court of King Francis I.
In the 18th century, a French actress and courtesan named Joli de Vaubernier, also known as Madame du Barry, gained fame and notoriety. She became the mistress of King Louis XV and was renowned for her beauty and wit.
Another notable figure with the name Joli was Joli LaBauve, a Creole woman who lived in Louisiana in the early 19th century. She was known for her skill as a herbalist and midwife, and her knowledge of traditional Creole remedies.
In the world of literature, the name Joli has been used by several authors. One example is the character Joli Villiers in the novel "The Black Venus" by Charles Saunders, published in 2005. Joli Villiers is a fictional 19th-century French poet and adventurer.
Despite its French origins, the name Joli has been adopted and used in various cultures around the world, often as a symbol of beauty and charm.
People
Joli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joli 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
Joli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,052 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joli 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 325,812 US residents.
Is Joli a common name?
We classify Joli as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joli most popular?
The single biggest year for Joli was 1969, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joli is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Joli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joli 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.
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.