Jocelyn
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A male given name from the Germanic languages. dated
- 2 A surname originating as a patronymic.
- 3 A female given name from the Germanic languages.
"I drove Dorothy immediately to King George V Hospital and two hours later she delivered a beautiful baby daughter. We named her Jocelyn."
- 4 A township in Ontario, Canada.
Example
More examples"Jocelyn Bell was born in 1943 in Northern Ireland. Her father was an architect who loved to read. Jocelyn would often borrow her father's books. Through her reading, Jocelyn became interested in astronomy."
Etymology
From the Middle English male given name from Old French Joscelin, German Gautzelin, diminutive of names beginning with the tribal name Gaut (“a Geat, a Goth”), the root form of which probably comes from Proto-Germanic *Gautalinþiz (from *gautaz + *linþaz); also used as a diminutive form of the Breton name Josse (= Joyce). It survived as a surname and was revived as a given name in the nineteenth century. * Jocelyn is currently popular among U.S. Hispanics, and in the Philippines, by folk etymology explained as a feminine diminutive form of José (Joseph).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.