Joyce (name)
Joyce is an Irish and French given name and surname. It is derived from the Old French masculine name Josse, which derived from the Latin name Iudocus, the Latinized form of the Breton name Judoc meaning "lord". The name became rare after the 14th century, but was later revived as a female given name, which derived from the Middle English joise meaning "rejoice".
The name originated with Saint Joyce (Judoc), a Breton prince and hermit and the son of Judicael, king of Brittany.
As a given name
- Joyce Anderson, American furniture designer and woodworker
- Joyce Anderson (artist), Canadian painter and art teacher
- Joyce Ballantyne, American painter of pin-ups
- Joyce Dennys, English cartoonist, illustrator and painter
- Joyce Wieland, Canadian experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist
Business
- Joyce Chen, American chef and restaurateur
- Joyce Hall, American businessman and founder of Hallmark Cards
- Joyce Kiage, businesswoman from Papua New Guinea
- Joyce Nicholson, Australian author and businesswoman
- Joyce Smyth, English solicitor
Film, television, and theater
- Joyce Blair, British actress and dancer
- Joyce Brothers, American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer
- Joyce Bulifant, American actress
- Joyce Carey, British actress
- Joyce Chopra, American film director
- Joyce Coad, American child actress
- Joyce Compton, American actress
- Joyce DeWitt, American actress best known for her role in Three's Company
- Joyce Giraud, Puerto Rican actress and model
- Joyce Godenzi, Hong Kong beauty queen and actress of Chinese and Australian descent
- Joyce Gordon, American actress and union representative
- Joyce Grenfell, British actress, comedian and singer-songwriter
- Joyce Hyser, American actress
- Joyce Jacobs, British character actress
- Joyce Jimenez, Filipino American actress
- Joyce MacKenzie, American actress
- Joyce Nizzari, American model and actress
- Joyce Randolph, American actress
- Joyce Redman, British actress
- Joyce Sparer Adler, American critic, playwright, and teacher
- Joyce Van Patten, American actress
Literature and print
- Joyce Cary, Irish novelist
- Joyce Cavalcante, Brazilian novelist
- Joyce Brabner, American writer of political comics
- Joyce Dyer, American scholar and writer
- Joyce Elbert, American writer
- Joyce Hawkins, English lexicographer and dictionary editor
- Joyce Jillson, American astrologer, actress, and author
- Joyce Johnson (author), American author
- Alfred Joyce Kilmer, American poet
- Joyce Lussu, Italian writer, translator, and partisan
- Joyce Mansour, British-Egyptian surrealist poet
- Joyce Maynard, American writer
- Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist
- Joyce Carol Thomas, African American playwright, illustrator, and author of children's books
Music
- Joyce Auguste, Saint Lucian musician and leader of The Hewanorra Voices
- Joyce Blackham, British opera singer
- Joyce Cooling, American smooth jazz guitarist
- Joyce Cheng, Hong Kong Canadian singer and actress based in Hong Kong
- Joyce Chu, Malaysian singer
- Joyce DiDonato, American opera singer
- Joyce Hatto, British pianist, known for the extensive fraudulent release of other performer's live recordings under her own name
- Joyce Kennedy, American singer with the funk rock band Mother's Finest
- Joyce Moreno (musician), Brazilian singer-songwriter, formerly known as Joyce
- Joyce Paul, American country music singer
- Joyce Sims, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- Joyce Wright, British opera singer and actress
- Joyce Yang, Korean pianist
- Joyce Zhao Hong Qiao, Taiwanese actress and member of music group 7 Flowers
Politics
- Joyce Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, Conservative member of the House of Lords
- Joyce Banda, Malawian Member of Parliament
- Joyce Baird, British trade unionist
- Joyce Beatty, American politician, member of the Ohio House of Representatives
- Joyce Butler, British Labour Co-operative politician
- Joyce Cusack, American politician, member of the Florida House of Representatives
- Joyce Dees, American politician, member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
- Joyce Fairbairn, Canadian Senator and first woman Leader of the Government in the Senate
- Joyce Gemayel, wife of former President of Lebanon Amin Gemayel and mother of the assassinated politician Pierre Amine Gemayel
- Joyce Henry, American politician, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
- Joyce Hens Green, American district court judge
- Joyce Karlin Fahey, Venezuela-born American prosecutor, Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and two-term mayor of Manhattan Beach, California
- Joyce L. Kennard, American judge, associate justice of the California Supreme Court
- Joyce Mojonnier, American politician, California Assemblywoman from 1983 to 1991
- Joyce Mujuru, Zimbabwean politician, co-vice-president of the Zanu-PF party
- Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin, British Labour Party politician
- Joyce Elaine Roop, American attorney and environmental activist
- Joyce Savoline, Canadian politician
- Joyce Steele, Australian politician and the first woman elected to the Parliament of South Australia
- Joyce Trimmer, Canadian politician
- Joyce Watson, Welsh Labour Party politician and Member of the National Assembly for Wales
Sports
- Joyce Barry, Australian cyclist
- Joyce Chepchumba, Kenyan long-distance runner
- Joyce Edwards, American basketball player
- Joyce King, Australian sprinter
- Joyce Moreno (footballer), Panamanian-Spanish footballer
- Joyce Slipp, Canadian basketball player and coach
- Joyce Walker, American basketball player and coach
- Joyce Wethered, British golfer
- Joyce Ziske, American golfer
Other
- Joyce Baird, Scottish diabetes clinician and academic researcher
- Joyce Bishop, English educator
- Joyce Chiang, Taiwanese-American murdered in Washington, D.C.
- Joyce Cowan, New Zealand midwifery educator
- Joyce Echaquan, Atikamekw woman mistreated by hospital staff
- Joyce Gemayel, spouse of former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel
- Joyce Giraud, Puerto Rican actress, Miss Universe 1998
- Joyce Ladner, American sociologist and author
- Joyce Lambert, British botanist and ecologist
- Joyce Marcus, American archaeologist
- Joyce Meyer, American Christian Evangelical author and speaker
- Joyce Ohajah, British journalist and news anchor
- Joyce Piliso-Seroke, South African educator, activist, and community organizer
- Joyce K. Reynolds, American computer science professor
- Joyce Robinson, Jamaican public servant
- Joyce Rugg Gunn, British lawyer, court official in Kenya
- Joyce Snell, British statistician
- Joyce Ann Tyldesely, British archaeologist, academic, and freelance writer
- Joyce Waley-Cohen, English educationist and public servant
- Joyce Winifred Vickery, Australian botanist
As a surname
Business
- Alan Joyce, Irish-Australian Qantas CEO
- David Joyce, American lumber baron and industrialist
- Morton Dean Joyce, American philatelist
- Patrick H. Joyce, American railroad executive
- Ron Joyce, Canadian billionaire and co-founder of Tim Horton's donut chain
Film, television, and theatre
- Alice Joyce, American actress
- Brenda Joyce (actress), American actress
- Elaine Joyce, American actress
- Ella Joyce, American actress
- Emily Joyce, British actress
- Natalie Joyce, American film actress
- Peggy Hopkins Joyce, American actress
- Yootha Joyce, British actress
Literature and print
- Brenda Joyce (author), American author
- Graham Joyce, British science fiction writer
- James Joyce, Irish novelist
- John A. Joyce, American military officer, poet and writer
- Michael Joyce, American author and professor of English
- Patrick Weston Joyce, Irish author and brother of Robert Dwyer Joyce
- Rachel Joyce, English novelist and radio playwright
- Robert Dwyer Joyce, Irish poet
- Stanislaus Joyce, Irish illustrator
- William Joyce (writer), American children’s author, writer, and illustrator
Music
- Archibald Joyce, British composer
- Don Joyce (musician), member of the experimental music group Negativland
- Eileen Joyce, Australian pianist
- Mike Joyce, British drummer with The Smiths
Politics
- Barnaby Joyce, Australian politician
- Brian A. Joyce, Democratic Senator from Massachusetts
- Charles Herbert Joyce, U.S. Representative from Vermont
- Eric Joyce, British politician and member of Parliament
- George Joyce, agitator in the English Civil War
- Janet J. Joyce, Illinois state senator
- Jeremiah E. Joyce, Illinois state senator
- Jerome J. Joyce, Illinois state senator
- John Joyce (New Zealand politician), New Zealand politician
- Kevin Joyce (politician), Illinois State Representative
- Steven Joyce, New Zealand politician
- William Joyce, Anglo-Irish Nazi propagandist
Religion
- Gilbert Cunningham Joyce, educator and Bishop of Monmouth
- Isaac Wilson Joyce, American bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church
- Jeremiah Joyce, English Unitarian minister and writer
Sports
- Alan Joyce, Australian Rules footballer
- Alexis Joyce, American sprinter
- Bill Joyce, Scottish footballer
- Bill Joyce (baseball), American baseball player
- Bob Joyce (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey player
- Cecelia Joyce, Irish cricketer
- Darragh Joyce, Australian rules footballer
- David Oliver Joyce, Irish boxer
- Dominick Joyce, Irish cricketer
- Don Joyce (American football), American football player
- Ed Joyce, Irish cricketer
- Gus Joyce, Irish cricketer
- Isobel Joyce, Irish cricketer
- Jim Joyce, Major League Baseball umpire
- Joan Joyce, American softball player and coach, among other sports
- Joe Joyce, English footballer
- Joe Joyce, British boxer
- John Joyce (footballer), English goalkeeper, known as "Tiny"
- Kaelan Joyce, Gibraltarian amateur boxer
- Kara Lynn Joyce, American swimmer
- Leilani Joyce, professional squash player from New Zealand
- Luke Joyce, American soccer player for Carlisle United F.C.
- Mark Joyce, English snooker player
- Matt Joyce, American football player
- Matt Joyce, Major League Baseball outfielder
- Michael Joyce (tennis player), American tennis player
- Pádraic Joyce, Irish Gaelic football player for County Galway
- Rachel Joyce, British triathlete
- Regina Joyce, Irish long-distance runner
- Ryan Joyce, English darts player
- Sean William Joyce, English footballer
- Warren Joyce, English footballer
Other
- Dominic Joyce, British mathematician
- Ernest Joyce (RNZAF officer), New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War
- Gerald Joyce, American scientist
- Kenyon A. Joyce, U.S. Army officer during World War II
- Kerry Joyce, American interior designer
- Lucia Joyce, Irish ballet dancer and daughter of writer James Joyce
- Maolra Seoighe, Irishman executed by British authorities
- Nan Joyce, Irish Travellers' right activist
- Philip Michael Joyce, U.S. Navy ensign for whom the U.S. destroyer escort USS Joyce (DE-317) is named
- Rosemary Joyce, American anthropologist
- Thomas Athol Joyce, British anthropologist
- Seoighe Inish Bearachain, Irish rowing champions
Fictional characters
- Joyce Barry, character in The Prisoner
- Joyce Barnaby, character in Midsomer Murders
- Joyce Benson, character in the 1970s comedy Angie
- Joyce Byers, character in Stranger Things
- Joyce Crandall, the main villainess in Save Royal Woods from The Loud House
- Joyce Davenport, character in Hill Street Blues
- Joyce Griff, Stanley's mother and a dentist in the Playhouse Disney animated television series Stanley
- Joyce Hayward, eponymous heroine of Joyce, an 1888 novel by Margaret Oliphant
- Joyce Kinney, character in Family Guy
- Joyce Summers, character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Gilda Joyce, character in the Gilda Joyce mystery novels
- Joyce, a minor character who appeared in the Garfield and Friends episode ''Super Sonic Seymour''