Joey
- Pronunciation
- [Joe-y]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Abbreviation Of Joseph.
- Origin
- English
About the Name Joey
Joey is an affectionate English short form and independent given name derived from Joseph, itself from the Hebrew Yosef, meaning "God will add" or "may God increase" — a name carried by one of the most beloved figures of the Hebrew Bible and by Joseph, husband of Mary, in the New Testament. As a standalone given name, Joey carries the easy warmth of a name that has never tried to be anything more than friendly and approachable. It belongs to a category of names — Bobby, Billy, Danny, Johnny — that were enthusiastically given as formal first names through much of the 20th century, particularly in working-class and Italian-American communities where the diminutive suffix felt like a natural expression of affection rather than a truncation of something more formal.
Joey Ramone (born 1951) — American singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of the Ramones — stands as one of the most iconic figures to carry this name. The Ramones were one of the foundational figures of the 1970s American punk-rock movement, and Joey Ramone's lanky stage presence and unmistakable voice made him an icon of American alternative music culture.
Joey first appeared in the US Social Security top-1000 in 2000 at its peak rank of #485 and has maintained a continuous presence across more than two decades, sitting at #889 in 2024 with 266 births that year. Across its full tracked span it has accumulated over 9,506 top-1000 births — a quiet, steady performance that reflects genuine affection for a name that has never gone fully out of style.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Joey
US Popularity History (2000–2025)
Annual US births named Joey by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2004 with 508 boys named Joey (boy rank #488 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #877 for boys (274 US births). That's 389 places below its 2004 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Joey Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Joey the strongest states are California, Nevada, Oregon.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | #513 | 590 |
| 2 | Nevada | #524 | 16 |
| 3 | Oregon | #653 | 20 |
| 4 | Utah | #666 | 23 |
| 5 | Kentucky | #666 | 16 |
| 6 | Tennessee | #698 | 26 |
| 7 | Colorado | #710 | 34 |
| 8 | Texas | #718 | 329 |
| 9 | Arizona | #723 | 65 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | #726 | 35 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | #945 | 27 |
| 2 | New Jersey | #907 | 26 |
| 3 | North Carolina | #898 | 36 |
| 4 | Indiana | #884 | 18 |
| 5 | Florida | #816 | 105 |
| 6 | Missouri | #815 | 24 |
| 7 | New York | #800 | 88 |
| 8 | Ohio | #774 | 77 |
| 9 | Louisiana | #769 | 24 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | #768 | 63 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Joey in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Famous People Named Joey
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Joey.
- Joey Ramone — Rock Singer (1951)
Looking for names like Joey?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Joey to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Joey against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Joey Baby Name Ideas
- When a Baby Name Has Different Nicknames Across Languages: Building One Flexible Family Plan
- How Close Is Too Close for Cousin Names? A Practical Similarity Test for Extended Families
- When Two Family Members Already Share the Nickname You Want for the Baby
- The Best Middle Names for Joseph: Pairings That Separate the Full Name From Joe and Joey
- How to Choose Between Two Finalist Baby Names Without Restarting the Search
- The Name Jolene: A Timeless Blend of Elegance and Charm
- Top 1000 Most Popular Boy Names In U.S. Of 2015
- Top 100 North American Baby Names