Names That Mean Joy

Could Lowen be the next Owen? This Cornish name certainly has the right sounds to be an American hit, yet fewer than 50 babies receive the name each year.

Joy is from an older generation of word names, which also included Merry, Bliss, and Glory -- all of which exert a certain amount of personality pressure on a child. One interesting name that means the same thing: Chara.

Tayo, also written as Táyò in Yoruba, is a name that sounds as joyful as its meaning.

Prettier than Joy and just beginning to be used here.

Variation of Lowenna - the consonant ending makes this one feel more masculine.

Chara is the name of a star in a constellation that represents hunting dogs, recently named as one of the most likely to host extraterrestrial life. Also, Chara is a variation of both Sarah and Charlotte.

Short form of Adebayo

In English, Kailea is an unusual variant spelling of Kayley or Kaylee. In Hawaiian, Kaileʻa means "sea of joy".

Kailea is one of

Roni may sound like the Doowop-era Ronnie or Ronni, often named for her dad Ron, but it's actually a freestanding Hebrew name with an uplifting meaning.

Alize feels like a blend of Alice and Eliza but it's not related to either of those names, rather to the more unusual (in the US, at least) Aleeza, a Hebrew name meaning joy, or Alizee, a French name meaning wind, or the related Alizeh, a Persian name that also means wind. The final e can take an accent, which might elucidate pronunciation, but English speakers are sure to be confused.

Too bad everyone in this country will tend to hear Ronnie.

Lowena is the Cornish word for "joy". As a given name, it is most commonly spelt as in this entry - Lowenna. Lowen is a lovely unisex option which is closely related: it means "joyful" or "glad".

This name was used by Shakespeare (who got it from Plutarch) in Antony and Cleopatra for one of the attendants of the Egyptian queen. An interesting possibility, it is heard occasionally in the UK, even less frequently in the US.

This charming West African mini name fits in with the other similarly short names that are all the rage right now. Actress Ayo Edebiri is the star of TV's The Bear.

Sachi, often short for Sachiko, was given to 25 girls in the US in a recent year. While it is technically Japanese, this short form has an unidentifiably international feel and might be a relative of the stylish Sacha.

An Ethiopian name that means "joy."

The Indian name Saran is used primarily in Punjab among the Sikh population. As a West African name, Saran has its origins in the Jula language, spoken in Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, and Mali.

Has an evocative African beat.

Rhythmic and unusual.