Julia
- Pronunciation
- [Ju-li-a]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Youthful
- Origin
- French
About the Name Julia
Julia is the Latin feminine form of Julius, descending from the Roman family name Julii — itself of uncertain pre-Roman origin, possibly traceable to the Greek Iulus (the name of Aeneas's son in Virgil's Aeneid). The Julii were one of the most prominent patrician families of the late Roman Republic, producing Julius Caesar and the broader Julio-Claudian imperial dynasty.
The name's Christian uptake came primarily through several saints, most notably Saint Julia of Corsica (5th century, a North African Christian martyr) and Saint Julia Billiart (18th-century French educator and founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame). The name has been continuously used across European Christian-influenced naming traditions for over a millennium. Notable bearers include American writer Julia Child (1912–2004, whose Mastering the Art of French Cooking reshaped American home cuisine), British poet Julia Carney, and contemporary actresses Julia Roberts (Oscar winner for Erin Brockovich) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Julia held a US top-100 girls' rank from 1880 through 1965 — over eight decades of consistent American popularity. After a quieter period, the name has remained in steady use, currently sitting in the US top 100 girls' rank. The name's appeal is its dignified Latin classicism combined with three soft syllables that work in formal and casual registers. The name reads as both classical and contemporary, equally appropriate for a baby and an adult. Common nicknames Jules, Julie, July, and the rare Liesy each carry distinct registers; international forms include Giulia (Italian), Julie (French/Danish), Julieta (Spanish), Yulia (Russian), and the original Latin Iulia.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Julia
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual US births named Julia by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2001 with 8,838 girls named Julia (girl rank #27 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #131 for girls (2,172 US births). That's 104 places below its 2001 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Julia Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Julia the strongest states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | #52 | 881 |
| 2 | Connecticut | #59 | 419 |
| 3 | New Jersey | #60 | 1,036 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | #69 | 124 |
| 5 | New York | #72 | 1,820 |
| 6 | Illinois | #78 | 1,119 |
| 7 | Rhode Island | #79 | 96 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | #88 | 1,081 |
| 9 | Florida | #95 | 1,541 |
| 10 | New Hampshire | #100 | 123 |
Weakest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | #262 | 121 |
| 2 | West Virginia | #247 | 62 |
| 3 | Idaho | #207 | 91 |
| 4 | Arkansas | #204 | 144 |
| 5 | New Mexico | #199 | 84 |
| 6 | Kentucky | #199 | 216 |
| 7 | Montana | #192 | 36 |
| 8 | Nevada | #178 | 147 |
| 9 | Missouri | #173 | 328 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | #171 | 212 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Julia in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named Julia
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Julia.
- Julia Child — Chef (1912)
Looking for names like Julia?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Julia to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Julia against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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