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I have a cousin Joyce.(named for her mother, not something I'd do.)a nice name, though.
She is always called Joycie,partly to distinguish her from her mother, and partly because that family, my mother's, will put an"ie" on anyone's name.

I really like Joyce! It's more viable as a female name, but I like the prospect of honoring its provenance and considering it for a male.

Never liked it. Joy is much nicer.

It's nice for a girl, I don't think it's really usable for a boy.

Joyce on a girl is okay but very dated. On a boy, no way. I know a 5-year-old named Maya Joyce which seems really sweet to me - plus it's honouring.

I don't think it's remotely cute yet. It's still stuck in the past and gathering dust.

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For a boy, you've got Joyce Cary as a literary reference (also pretty dated) and William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw. Definitely only as a mn!

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For a girl, I really like Joy a lot; unfortunately I've only known two Joy people, and one was gloomy and withdrawn while the other was single-mindedly egotistical and even manic. So, to avoid unwanted irony, I'd use it as a mn as well. But I would use it; Joyce I would not.

I think Joyce would be nice on a little girl. It is in the same category as Alice in my mind - older names that haven't gotten very popular, but are simple/plain but still nice. I could see Joyce and Alice being sisters. Joy would be cute as a nn too, although Joyce doesn't really need a nickname.

Yeah it is rather cute. The popularity level of Joyce throughout the centuries is a good example of one of the things that's always interested me about names. It was in use in The Middle Ages, then became rare, and then was just about obsolete until it started crawling back in the late 1800s on its way to popularity by the 1920s. Now, of course, following the cycle of name popularity, it's out of style again. I'd love to see a little Joyce.

I think cute is the last adjective I would use...:) it's very dated and old lady-ish to me. Joy on the other hand, is adorable. I can't see Joyce past the old lady with huge glasses and a mumu.

For a boy or girl? I like it for either. I don't really get a cute vibe from it, but on a girl I do think it feels sweet and honest. On a boy it feels very woodsy and bookish. I can't really picture it on a baby boy though, I guess. So maybe I just like it on a boy in theory.

This message was edited 4/1/2014, 5:58 PM