Find out how popular the last name Joslyn is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Joslyn.

Joslyn, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Joslyn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Joslyn in America

Joslyn is the 12079th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Joslyn surname appeared 2,581 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Joslyn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Joslyn to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Joslyn

The surname Joslyn is of Anglo-Saxon origin and can be traced back to the early medieval period in England. It is believed to have derived from the Old English personal name Gislheard, which was composed of the elements "gis" meaning hostage and "heard" meaning hardy or brave. Over time, this name evolved into various spellings including Joslin, Josselyn, Jocelin, and Jocelyn.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Joslyn can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Gislibertus" and "Gislebertus". These entries refer to individuals who held lands in various counties across England after the Norman Conquest.

In the 13th century, there are records of a prominent family bearing the name Jocelyn, who held estates in Hertfordshire and Essex. One notable member was Sir Ralph Jocelyn (c. 1220-1292), who served as Lord of the Manor of Hyde Hall in Hertfordshire and was a knight of the shire for that county.

During the 14th century, the Joslyn name appears in various records from the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire. One notable figure from this period was John Josselyn (c. 1330-1399), a wealthy landowner and Member of Parliament for Midhurst in Sussex.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Joslyn name gained prominence in the New World, with several individuals bearing this surname arriving in the British colonies of North America. One of the earliest recorded instances was Henry Joslyn (c. 1590-1672), who settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s and was one of the founders of the town of Hingham.

Another notable figure was John Joslyn (1638-1712), a merchant and landowner in Rhode Island, who served as the Attorney General of the colony and played a significant role in its early political affairs.

In the 18th century, the Joslyn name was well-established in various parts of New England, with several prominent families emerging in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. One notable individual was Ralph Joslyn (1717-1795), a militia captain and landowner in Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Joslyn name continued to be associated with various notable individuals, including Merritt Joslyn (1810-1899), a successful businessman and philanthropist in Omaha, Nebraska, and Mathew Joslyn (1835-1905), a prominent lawyer and judge in New York.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Joslyn

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Joslyn.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Joslyn was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Joslyn has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Joslyn was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Joslyn, please contact us.

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