Joyce

Joyce actually started its career as a masculine name. In fact, the origin of Joyce can be traced back over 14 centuries to the Celtic Bretons (living in the region of Brittany, France). Joyce is ultimately a derivative of an ancient Breton name Iodoc meaning “lord”. The Latinized form of this name became Jodocus which eventually morphed into the medieval Josse which in time became Joyce. Saint Judoc (more commonly known as Saint Joyce) was a 7th century prince of Brittany who renounced the throne and his inheritance to instead live the life of a religious hermit. St. Joyce’s cult grew and spread after his death largely due to the claims that his dead body remained incorruptible and the hairs on his head and chin continued to grow (requiring a constant trimming by his followers). Fleeing Norman raiders in the 10th century, several Breton monks brought St. Joyce’s relics and cult to England. The name became popular in homage to Saint Joyce whom the English adopted as their own. Evidence of Saint Joyce’s medieval importance in England can be found in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in which the Wife of Bath swears "by God and by Seint Joce" (indicating he was invoked for oath-taking). By the later Middle Ages Joyce was rarely used at all (probably after the Church of England’s break from Roman Catholicism) – still the name stayed active as a patronymic surname (e.g., Irish novelist James Joyce). The given name Joyce would eventually be revived in the modern era, but this time as female name – and this time influenced by the Middle English word “joise” meaning “to rejoice”.