Joyce Brown

(female), formerly (male) Apparently from the Norman male name Josce (Middle English Josse), which in turn is from Jodocus, a Latinized form of a Breton name, Iodoc, meaning ‘lord’, borne by a 7th-century Breton saint. The name was in use in England among Breton followers of William the Conqueror. However, although this was fairly common as a male given name in the Middle Ages, it had virtually died out by the 14th century. There is evidence of its use as a girl's name from the 16th century onwards in parishes with strong Puritan links, which suggests that it may have been associated with the vocabulary word joy; see Joy. It was strongly revived in the 19th century under the influence of popular fiction. It is borne by characters in Mrs Henry Wood's East Lynne (1861) and Edna Lyall's In the Golden Days (1885). Modern use may well have been influenced also by the common Irish surname derived from the medieval Norman male name. See also Joss.

English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brūn or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brūn as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brūngar, Brūnwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.