JOSLIN
Joslin is a surname of English origin, recorded in the British Isles from at least the twelfth century. It is a diminutive form of the personal name Joscelin, which itself was introduced to England by the Normans following the conquest of 1066. The Norman Joscelin was derived from the Old French adaptation of a Germanic personal name composed of the elements gauz, meaning "pledge" or "hostage", and lin, meaning "little". Consequently the original sense of the name is often rendered as "little pledge" or "little hostage".
The surname has been recorded in a wide range of spellings, reflecting the lack of standardised orthography in medieval England. These include Jocelyn, Joscelyn, Joscelyne, Josselyn, Joslin, Joslen, Josling, Josland, and Joseland. Early documentary evidence cites individuals such as Walter Joscelin of Yorkshire in 1198, John Gostelen of Norfolk in 1462, and Sarah Joscelyn of St James Clerkenwell in 1672. The very first known spelling of the family name that can be traced is that of Robert Goselin, dated 1185 in the Knight Templars register of Lincolnshire during the reign of King Henry the First.
From the medieval period onward, the name evolved into a hereditary surname. Its meaning has also been connected in some traditions to the Latin Judocus and the Breton Iodoc, both of which suggest a diminutive of "lord". While this interpretation exists in some historic accounts, the Germanic derivation described above is the most widely accepted etymology among scholarly sources.
In contemporary times the distribution of the surname Joslin is strongest in the United States, followed by England and Australia. It remains a relatively uncommon family name and has never entered the top one thousand most frequent surnames in any of those countries. Nonetheless, it can still be found in a number of English‑speaking regions, including the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Australia, reflecting the enduring legacy of Medieval migration and settlement patterns.
Typical given names associated with the Joslin surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Stephen
Female
- Angela
- Avril
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jane
- Judith
- Linda
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Ruth
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Joslin in...
Braille
⠚⠕⠎⠇⠊⠝
Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,815 people named Joslin in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,562nd most common surname in Britain. Around 28 in a million people in Britain are named Joslin.
Surname type: Diminutive
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Joslin
- Samuel Joslin - Actor
- Theodore Joslin - American politician (1890 to 1944)
- Phil Joslin - Football player (1916 to 1980)
- Phil Joslin - Football referee
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.