Joslyn
A feminine name of French origin meaning "valley meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 10,763 living Americans carry the first name Joslyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Joslyn today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joslyn births was 2010 (461 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joslyn. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Joslyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 31,846 Americans
Peak year
2010
461 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
1996 SSA rank
#2,252
Tracked since 1930
Census
Joslyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,912 people with the first name Joslyn, which placed it at #2,482 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
#2,482
National first-name rank
People counted
9.9K
9,912 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joslyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joslyn is White at 54.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.4%) and Black (17.1%). 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 Joslyn 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 Joslyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.0% · 5,349
- Hispanic or Latino19.4% · 1,925
- Black or African American17.1% · 1,695
- Two or more races6.2% · 611
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 232
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 100
Gender
Gender distribution for Joslyn
Out of the 11,189 babies given the name Joslyn since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Joslyn as a male name
- Ranked #7,531 in 1996
- 7 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1996 (7 births)
Joslyn as a female name
- Ranked #2,252 in 2024
- 83 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (461 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joslyn leans strongly female. 9,719 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 196 male bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Joslyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joslyn from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,379 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joslyn 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 Joslyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joslyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. Texas, California, Michigan recorded the most babies named Joslyn, while Maine, Connecticut, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 187 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joslyn
The name Joslyn has its roots in the Old English and Old French languages, originating in the Middle Ages. It is a feminine form of the male name Joseph, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning "he will add" or "he will increase."
The name Joslyn first appeared in England during the Norman Conquest in the 11th century, when the Norman French introduced their version of the name Joseline to the region. Over time, this spelling evolved into various forms, including Joslyn, Joslyne, and Joseline.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Joslyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. In this document, a landowner named Joselyn is mentioned, indicating the name's presence in the region at that time.
In the 13th century, Joslyn appeared in the religious text "The Life of St. Margaret of Antioch," where a character named Joslyn was referenced. This early literary mention further solidified the name's place in English culture and literature.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Joslyn include Joslyn of Edingley, a 13th-century English noblewoman who was a benefactor to religious institutions. Another famous bearer of the name was Joslyn Lay, a 15th-century English poet and author known for her work "The Prophecy of Joslyn."
In the 16th century, Joslyn Pearce, an English merchant and explorer, gained recognition for her travels to the New World and her documentation of the indigenous peoples she encountered. Additionally, Joslyn Carr, a 17th-century English Puritan leader, played a significant role in the establishment of religious communities in the American colonies.
During the 18th century, Joslyn Hampden, an English aristocrat and philanthropist, was renowned for her charitable works and advocacy for social reform. Joslyn Elliot, a Scottish writer and poet born in 1796, also contributed to the literary landscape of her time with her published works.
Throughout history, the name Joslyn has carried a sense of elegance, grace, and refinement, reflecting its origins in the noble and literary circles of medieval England and France.
People
Joslyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joslyn 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
Joslyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joslyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,763 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joslyn 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 31,846 US residents.
Is Joslyn a common name?
We classify Joslyn as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,189 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joslyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Joslyn was 2010, when 461 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joslyn is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joslyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,912 people with the name Joslyn, or 3.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,482 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 Joslyn 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 Joslyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joslyn leans strongly female. 9,719 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 196 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Joslyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joslyn is White at 54.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.4%) and Black (17.1%). 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 Joslyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Joslyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.0% (5,349 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 Joslyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joslyn a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Joslyn 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 Joslyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joslyn 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 Joslyn 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 Americans are named Joslyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Joslyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.