[name]Hi[/name] - a friend has asked me for advice on this particular name. I had not heard of it before, and she is looking for commentary on it. This will be her second son, and her firstborn also has a J name. So, what are your knee-jerk reactions? Analysis? Thoughts on pronunciation. Or teasibility? Any input would be valued, thank you!
It sounds feminine to me.
Female misspelling of [name]Jolene[/name]. Southern, country, dated. NMS.
I grew up with a boy named [name]Jolyon[/name]. I remember thinking that it was a strange name at first, but it seemed normal very quickly. He wasn’t teased at all - but that may have been because he was confident, sporty and fairly good looking!
Confidence does a lot! [name]Jolyon[/name] is a medieval form of [name]Julian[/name], but I’m curious if you think it will work in a modern world.
Actually, I really like it. But then again, I’m a huge fan of the Forsyte [name]Saga[/name] by [name]John[/name] Galsworthy (the books, films and tv series’). ‘[name]Young[/name] [name]Jolyon[/name]’ was portrayed as such a likable character, that it’s hard not to like the name 
I really like the name [name]Jolyon[/name]! I do think it can work nowadays and am not sure why it wouldn’t! [name]Jolyon[/name] is familiar yet different, easy to say, and easy to spell. A real winner all around.
I can appreciate it. I believe it’s a medieval form of [name]Julian[/name]? I wouldn’t have known that before Nameberry, though, and I don’t think a lot of people will really think of that. I think [name]Julian[/name]'s a much “safer” name, but both are nice. I’m also not quite sure the pronunciation–[name]JOE[/name]-lee-uhn, maybe? Still, it’s a nice name. It’d be nice if it was used more, because people would warm up to it more, I think. It has an interesting history–I’m just not brave enough to risk it.
i recognize it from its use in [name]Katherine[/name] Kurtz’s Deryni novels, and think it’s cool - and not feminine at all. I’d pronounce it like [name]Joel[/name]-yon.
I clearly love [name]Julian[/name] and thus find [name]Jolyon[/name] very interesting but I think that to the modern audience it would be considered to be …
Which makes me sad.
This is probably pretty irrelevant, but for me, [name]Jolyon[/name] is a one-person name. It’s the name of an obnoxious, too-affable insurance salesman in the English translations of the Belgian “Tintin” comic book series. Tintin may be a little more well-known in [name]America[/name] now because of the recent [name]Steven[/name] Spielberg movie, but this character, [name]Jolyon[/name] Wagg, doesn’t appear in the movie at all.
I’ve been pronouncing it something like Jolly-on, but spring13’s [name]Joel[/name]-yon may be closer. I’d like to think [name]Jolyon[/name] would work in modern real life, but it’s so rare I’m not sure. I much prefer [name]Julian[/name], myself.
Best wishes to you and your friend!
It grew on me after I said it a few times. You’d be breaking new ground, for sure, so you’d have some detractors. That said, I like one-of-a-kinds that aren’t made up. I vote yes!
There’s a football player here called Joleon Lescott (spelt as such) so it’s a name I’m familiar with. The commentators pronounce it ‘[name]JOE[/name]-lee-un’. I like it
Er, don’t love it. Out of curiosity, how do you pronounce it? The way it’s spelled seems sorta feminine…
I know a [name]Jolyon[/name] in his 40s, he’s never had any problems with his name that I know of, I like it very much but think on the 'phone it will constantly be misheard as [name]Julian[/name].
It’s a legitimate medieval variant of [name]Julian[/name], and in this case I would highly recommend sticking with [name]Julian[/name].
I once read a blog by a relatively crazy, narcissitic hipster couple who named their son [name]Jolyon[/name]. They were unbelievably secretive about his name since they thought it was such a beautiful treasure that everyone would ‘steal’ it once they found it existed. Whenever they encountered other Jolyons-- which happened on the blog, as people would parachute it to discuss the name-- they would throw little tantrums, even if the aforementioned Jolyons were older than their own son.
And that, in a nutshell, is the name to me. An overly precious medieval variant that probably won’t wear too well, and is bestowed out of perceived uniqueness rather than any other affirmative quality.
After I read the post that it’s a form of [name]Julian[/name] I liked it.
If you google it there’s actually quite a few people with the name (I didn’t click on links but some were living, some were deceased, some first name, some last name, at least one on Facebook).
I also thought of the characters in the Forsyte [name]Saga[/name]. The dramatizations pronounce it [name]JOE[/name]-lee-on. I think if your friend is in the UK, Australia, or [name]Canada[/name], where people might occasionally encounter another [name]Jolyon[/name], it would be fine. Here, it will probably always be mispronounced, and thus it might work better as a middle name.
I don’t like it