Joi
A feminine name of Chinese origin meaning "beautiful jade".
Name Census estimates that about 5,624 living Americans carry the first name Joi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Joi today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joi births was 1981 (164 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joi. 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
5.6K
~ 1 in 60,945 Americans
Peak year
1981
164 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,584
Tracked since 1942
Census
Joi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,088 people with the first name Joi, which placed it at #3,863 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
#3,863
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,088 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joi is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (21.8%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Joi 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 Joi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.1% · 3,413
- White21.8% · 1,110
- Two or more races4.4% · 224
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 176
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 140
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 25
Popularity
Joi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joi from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Joi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joi 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 Joi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jois live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Georgia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Joi, while Utah, Iowa, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 145 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joi
The given name Joi is believed to have originated from the French language, with its roots tracing back to the Old French word "joie," meaning joy or happiness. This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, primarily in regions where French culture and influence were prevalent.
One of the earliest known references to the name Joi can be found in medieval French literature, particularly in the works of troubadours and courtly poets. These literary works often celebrated the concept of "joi," which symbolized the joy and delight experienced in romantic love and courtly pursuits.
In the 12th century, Joi emerged as a feminine name, potentially inspired by the personification of joy and happiness in allegorical tales and poems. The name's association with positive emotions and the pursuit of happiness may have contributed to its enduring appeal throughout the centuries.
Historically, the name Joi has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Joi Lansing (1928-1972), an American model, actress, and singer who gained prominence in the 1950s and 1960s.
2. Joi Cardwell (born 1971), an American singer and songwriter known for her contributions to the house music genre.
3. Joi Michiko Pearce (born 1974), an American poet and author of Japanese and African-American descent.
While less common, the name Joi has also been used by several other individuals throughout history, though their biographical details may be scarce or obscured by the passage of time.
It is worth noting that the name Joi has maintained a consistent, albeit modest, presence across various cultures and regions, often resonating with its connotations of joy and happiness. Despite its French origins, the name has transcended linguistic and cultural boundaries, becoming a part of the global tapestry of names.
People
Joi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joi 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
Joi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,624 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joi 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 60,945 US residents.
Is Joi a common name?
We classify Joi as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,044 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joi most popular?
The single biggest year for Joi was 1981, when 164 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joi is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,088 people with the name Joi, or 1.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,863 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 Joi 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 Joi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joi leans strongly female. 5,003 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 83 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Joi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joi is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (21.8%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Joi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Joi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (3,413 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 Joi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joi 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 Joi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joi 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 Joi 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 common is the name Joi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.