Given name & surname · also Greek
Julius
“the child of Jove; one who is youthful”
Julius is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “the child of Jove; one who is youthful.” Its derivation is not certain.
Original Ancient GreekἸούλιος
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “the child of Jove; one who is youthful.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Roman, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
In Cebuano usage, Julius developed from Ἴουλος.
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
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Julius appears in Acts 27:1, Acts 27:3, Acts 27:6.
- Acts 27:1
- Acts 27:3
- Acts 27:6
From biblical name research
Julius through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 85,038
- 84,628 boys · 410 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 1,422 babies
- 2025
- 759
- #424 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −11%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 759 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 424 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 11.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,416 in 1918. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (125). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 40,007 as a first name in 2020; 3,513 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.
Julius’s family of names
In English usage, Julius has a diminutive in Jules. In Latin usage, Julius has a feminine form in Julia. In English usage, Julius has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Julio.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Julius has relatives in 40 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 22
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Julesdiminutive · English, French
- Julivariant · Catalan
- Juniusvariant
- Juliousvariant
- Julliuslikely variant
- Juladiminutive · Czech
- Juleshort form · English
- Juleusvariant
Show 14 moreShow fewer
- Juleyvariant
- Juleevariant
- Julisvariant
- Juliusslikely variant
- Julkudiminutive · Finnish
- Julekdiminutive · Czech, Polish
- Iuliusvariant · Latin, Czech
- Juulshort form · Norwegian Bokmål
- Jullediminutive · Swedish
- Julshort form · Norwegian Bokmål
- Juliosvariant
- Julỹsdiminutive · Lithuanian
- Júliusvariant · Czech, Slovak
- Julínekdiminutive · Czech
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 46
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Ἴουλοςroot · Ancient Greek
- ἸούλιοςAncient Greek
- ΙούλιοςGreek
- Julianderivative
- Juliafeminine form · Latin, Finnish
- Julianafeminine form · English
- Juliocognate · Spanish, Tagalog
- Julienequivalent
Show 38 moreShow fewer
- Giulianoequivalent
- Giuliocognate · Italian
- Юлійequivalent
- ܝܘܠܝܘܣequivalent
- Xhulioequivalent
- Juliussen“son of” surname · Norwegian Bokmål
- Юлийcognate · Russian
- JúlioPortuguese
- Juliuszcognate · Polish
- Yuliyrelated form
- Juliãoequivalent
- Julijanequivalent
- Iulianequivalent
- Juluanequivalent
- Julianusequivalent
- Juliánequivalent
- Júlíuscognate · Icelandic
- Jūlijscognate · Latvian
- GiuliôVietnamese
- Ю́лійUkrainian, Belarusian
- JulijSlovene
- Ю́лийRussian, Bulgarian
- IuliuRomanian
- जुलिअसMarathi
- जुलियसMarathi, Hindi
- JoolManx
- ЈулијMacedonian
- IūliusLatin
- 율리우스Korean
- ユリウスJapanese
- IúilIrish
- Gyulacognate · Hungarian
- יוּלִיHebrew
- იულიუსGeorgian
- XulioGalician
- ⲓⲟⲩⲗⲓⲟⲥCoptic
- ՀուլիոսArmenian
- يُولِيُوسArabic
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Julius
- J. Robert OppenheimerAmerican theoretical physicist (1904–1967)
- Groucho MarxAmerican comedian (1890–1977)
- Julius NyerereTanzanian politician and writer, first Prime Minister and President of Tanzania (1922–1999)
- Richard DedekindGerman mathematician (1831–1916)
- Julius EvolaItalian philosopher and esotericist (1898-1974)
- Julius Wagner-JaureggAustrian doctor, Nobel prize laureate and psychiatrist (1857–1940)
- Julius AxelrodAmerican biochemist (1912–2004)
- Julius von MayerGerman physicist (1814-1878)
- Lothar MeyerGerman chemist and physician (1830-1895)
Characters named Julius: Julius No (fictional villain in the 1958 James Bond novel and 1962 film Dr. No).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Julius, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Rufus
“red(-haired )” · “a red-haired man”
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