The name
Joyce is a contemporary given-name used for females and rarely used by males. As a family-name, it 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 later revived as a female given-name, which derived from the
Middle English joise meaning "rejoice".
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