National Joe Day:

Celebrated on 27th March, National Joe Day is an unusual observance that promotes an everyday name, Joe. Often associated with the term average Joe, the name is used in many phrases and continues to be a popular name even in the 21st century.

Twitter Hashtags:

#NationalJoeDay

#JoeDay

Related: Other National Days Celebrated on March 27th:

National Spanish Paella Day

Why National Joe Day?

Humans have been obsessed with nomenclature since the time they could string sounds and words together. Language has been instrumental in comprehending the concept of self and name is one of the prominent features with which we identify people, brands, and everything around us.

Since ancient times, names were conferred by the parents of the infant, relatives, or sometimes even the clan leader. Back then the name was more than an identifier. A name was instrumental in identifying oneself with ancestors, to describe a child’s traits, to invoke blessings from a higher power, or even to mark any event linked to the birth of the child. Though names of individuals remain fixed in the western world, according to the native American custom a person changed his or her name throughout various stages of their life, a practice that continues in.

Changing one’s name is a significant event in many religions. Individuals who choose a monastic life abandon their old names and choose a new name to signify that they have chosen a different path. It is also customary for Christians to choose a Christian name for both males and females on the occasion of baptism, a ritual that is representative of their faith and their inclusion into the universal church.

In some cultures, the true name of a person was kept a secret for protection from their human or spirit nemesis, who was thought to wield a totemic power over those whose personal names were known. Hence they kept both, a public name and a secret personal name. However, since the dawn of the written language, personal names were kept fixed as it was a prerequisite to recording history and civil records accurately.

Nowadays it has become so common for young parents to break their heads to find a unique name for their child so that they can give their offspring the early advantage of being different from the crowd. Even when we strive for uniqueness in a society driven by individualism, few old and gold names and standards are favored even now.

The name Joe is usually used as a short form for names such as Joseph, Joey, Josephine, and so on. Joseph was a common Jewish name during the middle ages and was not very popular among Christians. It became a popular name in Spain and Italy during the middle ages. Post the protestant reformation the name became popular in England too.

Joseph is derived from the Hebrew name ‘Yosef’ which is translated as a “He will add”. Joseph was a popular name in ancient times and has appeared in various religious texts such as the Bible. In the Bible, Joseph is an important figure who rose to the rank of the pharaoh’s advisor from humble beginnings. Besides, Joseph was the name of Mary’s husband and Joseph Arimathea is another name that we can spot in the Bible.

During the period between the 1880s to 1930s Joseph was one of the top ten trending names in the US for males and the name Joe remained in the top 40 names throughout the 1880s up until the 2000s after which there was a decline in its usage. Similar female names that remained on the charts were Joan, Joanne, and Jo and Joann.

Besides becoming one of the most popular names, Joe is a common term used in many English phrases. ‘Average Joe’ and ‘a cup of joe’ are two phrases that have come into everyday conversations. Average Joe is a term used to refer to an ordinary individual and a ‘cup of Joe’ is used to refer to a cup of coffee. The saying ‘cup of Joe’ came into existence in the 1940s, after the Navy secretary, Joseph Daniels banned alcohol consumption. He was a proponent of substituting alcohol with coffee and he did so by increasing coffee purchases and since then his name was associated with coffee.

It might seem surprising how an everyday name can earn a day, but when you relish and find contentment in small things in life, every day becomes a celebration and even a common name can be a reason to rejoice. The National Joe Day celebrates a common everyday name, and that makes this an unusual celebration.

How Can We Observe National Joe Day?

• Make It Special

Wish your ‘Joe’ friends and family, surprise them with gifts and make it a special day for them!

• Be A Joe

On this day you can adopt any version of the name Joe and ask everyone to call you by the name you have chosen and baffle your friends and family.

• Enjoy A Cup Of Coffee With A Joe

Catch up with your long-lost ‘Joe’ friend over a cup of Joe.

• Spread Some ‘Joe’ Social Signals

Use #NationalJoeDay and #JoeDay to share the photos and posts of your favorite Joes on social media platforms and tag them.

Interesting Facts About National Joe Day:

Few Facts Related To National Joe Day

• The 46th US president is a Joe, Joe Biden. A lawyer by profession, he also served as the former vice president.
• The name Joe was ranked as the 455th most popular name in the US in 2020.
• The name became popular in Spain and Italy due to the popularity of Saint Joseph.
• In Germany, the most popular variant is Josef whereas in France José is more common.
• Joe is a common pet name as well.
• Some of the famous Joe’s are Joe the singer, Actor-Joe Pesci, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, musicians Jo-Jo and Joe Jonas, American football player – Joe Namath, Actress-Jodie Foster.
• The study of names and the practice of naming is known as onomastics.
• Anthroponomastics is the study of personal names

History Of National Joe Day:

The history of National Joe Day remains elusive but we can positively assume that it is the brainchild of a creative Joe.