Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Jolie

Jolie means “pretty” in French. Although French in origin, Jolie is a female given name made popular by English-speakers (particularly Americans). This is not a name given to les bébés filles françaises (i.e., French baby girls). Jolie did appear briefly on the female naming charts in the United States in the late 1960s and early 70s but what really spurred on the success of its usage was actress Angelina Jolie Voight who switched her middle name to her surname as a young adult. Today Jolie is more popular in the Netherlands and used occasionally in Australia and Canada (although not in the French-speaking Quebec province). To the French, naming a daughter “Jolie” would be equivalent to English-speakers calling their baby girls “Pretty”. Something considered a bit too gauche or tasteless to the classy French.

All About the Baby Name – Jolie

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME JOLIE

Romance is the hallmark of the Six personality. They exude nurturing, loving, and caring energy. Sixes are in love with the idea of love in its idealized form - and with their magnetic personalities, they easily draw people toward them. Like the number Two personality, they seek balance and harmony in their life and the world at large. They are conscientious and service-oriented, and a champion for the underdog. These personalities naturally attract money and are usually surrounded by lovely material objects - but their human relationships are always primary. They thrive in giving back to others rather than being motivated by their own desires. This is when they achieve great things. Sixes are natural teachers, ministers and counselors.

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME JOLIE

As mentioned above, Jolie first appeared on the American female naming charts in 1968. The name was used with low frequency before disappearing from the charts in 1975. Jolie reappeared in 2000 and achieved some success for the first few years of this new century (although on the low end of the scale). Since 2009, the name has been reversing her course and is now backing down to pretty low levels of usage again. It seems the connection to Angelina Jolie has become a little too celebrity focused. Vocabulary word names are nothing new and we have several other examples of them on the charts. American parents are not beyond naming their daughters Cherish, Jewel, Precious or Princess. Not to mention Bonita means “pretty” and Linda means “beautiful” in Spanish. Belle means “beautiful” in French and Bella means the same in Italian. So from this perspective, Jolie is a perfectly reasonable choice. And the French pronunciation is simply lovely (zho-LEE). If you travel to France, however, you may raise a few eyebrows when you introduce yourself as Jolie.

Quick Facts

ON JOLIE

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

French

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

2

RANKING POPULARITY:

769

PRONUNCIATION:

zho-LEE (French); JO-lee (English)

SIMPLE MEANING:

Pretty

Characteristics

OF JOLIE

Humanitarian

Community-minded

Family-oriented

Loving

Affectionate

Compassionate

Sensitive

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Jolie

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME JOLIE

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Jolie

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME JOLIE

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Jolie


Popular Songs

ON JOLIE

Ma Jolie
a song by Bear Vs. Shark

Jolie Jolie
a song by Graham Parker

Jolie
a song by Mark Chesnutt

Famous People

NAMED JOLIE

Jolie Holland (musician)
Jolie Gabor (mother of the Gabor Sisters Zsa Zsa, Eva and Magda)
Joely Fisher (actress)

Children of Famous People

NAMED JOLIE

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Jolie

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME JOLIE

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Jolie