Joylene
A feminine name derived from the French name Jolene, potentially meaning "pretty little one."
Name Census estimates that about 237 living Americans carry the first name Joylene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Joylene today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joylene births was 1942 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joylene. 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
237
~ 1 in 1,446,221 Americans
Peak year
1942
15 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2009 SSA rank
#18,634
Tracked since 1927
Census
Joylene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 392 people with the first name Joylene, which placed it at #24,539 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
#24,539
National first-name rank
People counted
392
392 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joylene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joylene is White at 62.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Black (12.2%). 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 Joylene 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 Joylene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.0% · 243
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 51
- Black or African American12.2% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.2% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 9
- Two or more races2.3% · 9
Popularity
Joylene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joylene from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 90 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joylene 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 Joylene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joylene
The name Joylene is a relatively modern name that originated in the 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Jolene and Lyn, which have their roots in various languages and cultures.
Jolene is a French name derived from the Old French word "joli," meaning "pretty" or "lovely." It is also related to the French name Jolaine, which has similar roots. The name Lyn, on the other hand, is a shortened form of the English name Lynn, which has its origins in the Welsh name Llyn, meaning "lake" or "pool."
While the name Joylene does not have a long historical lineage, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Joylene can be found in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Over the years, several notable individuals have borne the name Joylene. One of the most famous was Joylene Baughn (1951-2016), an American country music singer and songwriter who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s. Joylene Woodrow (born 1959) is an Australian politician who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1991 to 2003.
In the world of literature, Joylene Gordon (born 1949) is a Canadian author and playwright known for her works exploring Indigenous cultures and experiences. Joylene Bailie (born 1975) is a Canadian actress and filmmaker who has appeared in several television shows and films.
Another notable figure is Joylene Jorgensen (born 1956), a former professional tennis player from the United States who reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in the world in 1978. She won two Grand Slam doubles titles and represented her country in the Federation Cup.
While the name Joylene may not have a rich historical background, it has gained popularity in modern times and has been borne by several accomplished individuals across various fields, including music, politics, literature, and sports.
People
Joylene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joylene 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
Joylene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joylene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 237 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joylene 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 1,446,221 US residents.
Is Joylene a common name?
We classify Joylene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 369 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joylene most popular?
The single biggest year for Joylene was 1942, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joylene is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joylene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 392 people with the name Joylene, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,539 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 Joylene 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 Joylene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joylene appears almost entirely female. Of the 390 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Joylene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joylene is White at 62.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Black (12.2%). 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 Joylene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Joylene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.0% (243 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 Joylene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joylene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joylene 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 Joylene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joylene 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 Joylene 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 share the name Joylene?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.