Given name & surname

Judge

“one who sits in judgment of others”

Judge is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “one who sits in judgment of others.”

Meaning & origin

What it means

One English interpretation is “one who sits in judgment of others.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is English.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Judge through the years

Babies since 1880
3,826
3,826 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
1919
65 babies
2025
49
#2,660 for boys
2021–25 vs 2016–20
+24%
Rising
010020030018801900192019401960198020002025Highest share 189129
Judge in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1880–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

Where it’s given

Most at home inTexas
FewerMore, relative to births Not published
2025 births by state of birth. Tiles are equal-sized so small states stay visible. Highest rates: Texas (11).

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 49 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,660 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 24.0% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (11). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,311 as a first name in 2020; 10,282 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Judge’s family of names

Judge has a related form in Judg. Judge has a related form in Juge.

Walk Judge’s family in the name graph

JudgeJugeJudg

The ring: nicknames and forms.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 2

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

People named Judge

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Judge, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

English · Old-fashioned

Claude

“one who is lame”

29RareEasing

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Weldon

“from the hill near a spring”

31RareSteady

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Sumner

“a legal official; one who serves summons”

24RareRising

82% boys · 18% girls

English · Old-fashioned

Coy

“son of Aodh” · “fire”

42UncommonEasing

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Rupert

“one who is bright with fame”

26RareRising

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Wilfred

“one who wishes for peace”

26RareSteady

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Lester

“roman fort” · “a man from Leicester”

40UncommonSteady

>99% boys

English · Old-fashioned

Elton

“a spontaneous woman” · “from the old town”

34RareRising

99% boys · 1% girls

Sibling ideas

Names that share Judge’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Judge

A sister for Judge