Jocelyn
Meaning of Jocelyn
Pronounced JOSS-lin, Jocelyn descends from the medieval French Joscelin, a Latinized rendering of the Old German Gautzelin, once carried across Europe by Norman warriors and etched into Breton place names. The moniker crossed the Channel after 1066, shifted from masculine to feminine in the modern era, and today balances a gentle cadence with a decisive initial J that appeals to parents seeking substance without fuss. In the United States it climbed steadily to a peak rank of 50 in 2007 and, despite a gradual easing to No. 348 in 2024, still registers hundreds of newborns each year, signaling durable popularity rather than a fleeting trend. Bearers such as astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Latin pop singer Jocelyn Enriquez illustrate its range from the observatory to the stage. With medieval roots, modern polish, and cross-cultural reach, Jocelyn offers a timeless yet contemporary choice.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as JOSS-lin (/ˈdʒɑːs.lɪn/)
British English
- Pronunced as JOSS-lin (/ˈdʒɒs.lɪn/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Jocelyn
| Northern Irish physicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967 as a doctoral student, a breakthrough later recognized by the 1974 Nobel Prize from which she was excluded. |
| Jocelyn Aloha Pumehana Alo is an American professional softball player for the Oklahoma City Spark, the NCAA Division I career home run leader, a two time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, and the first overall pick in the inaugural WPF draft after starring for the Oklahoma Sooners. |
| Dame Jocelyn Barrow was a pioneering British educator, activist, and politician who became the first black woman BBC governor, founded and served as deputy chair of the Broadcasting Standards Council, and later led UK development at Focus Consultancy. |
| A Canadian singer songwriter from Calgary, Jocelyn Alice Strang went solo in 2015 after her duo Jocelyn and Lisa ended, earning a platinum hit with Jackpot and gold singles Feels Right and Bound To You. |
| Jocelyn Denise Moorhouse is an Australian screenwriter and director best known for directing Proof, How to Make an American Quilt, A Thousand Acres, and The Dressmaker. |
| Jocelyn Monroe is an American and British experimental particle physicist at the University of Oxford, known for developing novel dark matter detectors and for winning the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for work on the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. |
| American actress Jocelyn Brando, sister of Marlon Brando, was best known for her role as Katie Bannion in the 1953 film The Big Heat. |
| Jocelyn Margaret Harris is a New Zealand scholar celebrated for her research on Jane Austen's creative process and for championing women's literature at the University of Otago. |
| Jocelyn Burton - Sara Jocelyn Margarita Elissa Burton was a British silversmith and goldsmith and the first woman awarded the City and Guilds of London Institute Prince Philip Medal. |
| Jocelyn Bernadette Smith is an American jazz singer. |
| Jocelyn Hay was a British journalist and broadcasting campaigner who founded Voice of the Listener and Viewer and was praised as a leading lobbyist and the Florence Nightingale of public service broadcasting. |
| Jocelyn Rae is a retired British tennis player. |
| Jocelyn Neumueller is an Australian paracanoeist who competed at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. |
| Jocelyn Davies is a Plaid Cymru politician who represented South Wales East in the Welsh Assembly from 1999 to 2016 and served as Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration from 2007 to 2011. |
| Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger is an American former MMA fighter who competed in the UFC and Invicta at strawweight, including at UFC Fight Night MacDonald vs Thompson, before retiring in 2017. |
