Judah Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Boy Names Like Judah

Judah Name Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: joo-dah
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Judah Name Meaning

The name Judah means “praise” or “praised”, and is associated with strength, courage, and faith. It can also be interpreted to mean “God’s beloved”, “God is gracious”, or “God will give”.

History of the Name Judah

Judah is an ancient name, with a rich history that can be traced back to the Bible. In the Old Testament, Judah was the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. Later on, Judah became an independent kingdom in the tenth century BC, and was eventually absorbed into the Babylonian Empire. After the Babylonian Empire fell, Judah regained its independence until it was conquered by the Romans in 63 BC.

Origins of the Name Judah

The name Judah is thought to have originated from the Hebrew word “Yehudah”, which means “praise”. It is also believed to be derived from the Hebrew word “Yahweh”, which is the name of God in the Old Testament.

Popularity of the Name Judah

The name Judah has recently seen a surge in popularity, with more parents choosing the name for their sons. In the US, the name Judah has been in the top 500 most popular boy’s names since 2013, and in 2018 it was ranked as the 81st most popular boy’s name. It is also popular in other countries, such as England, Scotland, and Australia.

Final Thoughts on the Name Judah

Judah is a timeless name that has been around for centuries, with a rich history, deep meaning, and recent surge in popularity. It is a name that can be interpreted to mean “praise”, “God’s beloved”, “God is gracious”,

Judah Name Popularity

How popular is the name Judah? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	0	0%
1911	—	0	0%
1912	—	0	0%
1913	—	0	0%
1914	—	0	0%
1915	—	0	0%
1916	—	0	0%
1917	—	0	0%
1918	—	0	0%
1919	—	0	0%
1920	1,469	5	0.0004%
1921	—	0	0%
1922	—	0	0%
1923	1,280	9	0.0008%
1924	1,500	6	0.0005%
1925	—	0	0%
1926	1,561	5	0.0005%
1927	—	0	0%
1928	1,398	6	0.0006%
1929	—	0	0%
1930	—	0	0%
1931	1,374	6	0.0006%
1932	1,293	6	0.0006%
1933	1,469	5	0.0005%
1934	1,431	5	0.0005%
1935	—	0	0%
1936	—	0	0%
1937	—	0	0%
1938	—	0	0%
1939	—	0	0%
1940	—	0	0%
1941	—	0	0%
1942	—	0	0%
1943	—	0	0%
1944	—	0	0%
1945	1,264	6	0.0005%
1946	—	0	0%
1947	1,384	6	0.0004%
1948	—	0	0%
1949	—	0	0%
1950	—	0	0%
1951	—	0	0%
1952	—	0	0%
1953	1,338	7	0.0004%
1954	1,359	7	0.0004%
1955	1,336	7	0.0004%
1956	1,567	5	0.0003%
1957	—	0	0%
1958	1,459	6	0.0003%
1959	1,454	6	0.0003%
1960	1,498	5	0.0003%
1961	—	0	0%
1962	—	0	0%
1963	1,330	7	0.0004%
1964	—	0	0%
1965	1,389	6	0.0004%
1966	1,275	8	0.0005%
1967	1,370	6	0.0004%
1968	1,278	10	0.0007%
1969	—	0	0%
1970	—	0	0%
1971	1,357	11	0.0007%
1972	1,503	7	0.0005%
1973	—	0	0%
1974	1,293	13	0.001%
1975	1,192	18	0.0014%
1976	1,392	12	0.0009%
1977	1,062	28	0.0021%
1978	1,239	18	0.0013%
1979	1,615	9	0.0006%
1980	—	0	0%
1981	1,092	31	0.0021%
1982	1,414	16	0.0011%
1983	1,603	10	0.0007%
1984	1,371	17	0.0011%
1985	1,400	18	0.0012%
1986	1,572	13	0.0009%
1987	1,596	14	0.0009%
1988	1,162	36	0.0023%
1989	1,518	20	0.0012%
1990	1,387	28	0.0017%
1991	1,386	28	0.0017%
1992	1,352	32	0.002%
1993	1,468	26	0.0017%
1994	1,319	36	0.0023%
1995	1,105	61	0.004%
1996	1,424	31	0.0021%
1997	1,061	72	0.0049%
1998	1,034	80	0.0053%
1999	925	112	0.0075%
2000	791	157	0.0103%
2001	727	192	0.0127%
2002	651	244	0.0163%
2003	673	246	0.0162%
2004	553	370	0.0243%
2005	510	444	0.029%
2006	497	483	0.0308%
2007	425	649	0.0411%
2008	392	731	0.0473%
2009	325	960	0.0642%
2010	295	1,088	0.0755%
2011	286	1,205	0.0846%
2012	269	1,279	0.0898%
2013	260	1,336	0.0938%
2014	240	1,520	0.1043%
2015	232	1,630	0.112%
2016	233	1,643	0.114%
2017	206	1,869	0.1339%
2018	201	1,986	0.1446%
2019	189	2,031	0.15%
2020	185	2,012	0.1581%
2021	183	2,080	0.1702%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Judah

If you like Judah, you’ll love these other names like Judah.

What names are diminutives of Judah?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Judah sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Judah, but shorter.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Jude	Praise	English

What names are variants of Judah?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Judah.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Jody	Jehovah increases	Hebrew
Jud	Down-flowing; praised	Hebrew
Judd	Flowing down	Hebrew
Jude	Praise	English

What names sound like Judah?

If you like how Judah sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Judah.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Jada	Jehovah knows	Hebrew
Jediah	Jehovah knows	Hebrew

What names are similar to Judah?

Find a name that’s like Judah, but just a little bit different.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Yehudi	Praise	Hebrew

Lists With Judah

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Judah.

Siblings of Judah

Mamas with kids named Judah also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Asher	Happy and blessed	Hebrew
Shiloh	His gift	Hebrew
Eva	Life	Hebrew
Joshua	God is salvation	Hebrew

Share Your Thoughts

27 Comments

Alexis Oct 8 at 7:53 am

I love the name Judah!

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Kimberly Oct 5 at 10:00 pm

Judah means praise which is something we wanted to declare over our kiddo. That he was born to praise God.

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Savannah Aug 21 at 9:00 am

We chose the name Judah because it means I will praise.

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Danielle Aug 17 at 11:31 am

It means to Praise and we sure were praising God when we got pregnant with this rainbow baby 🙂

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JackiLyn Aug 17 at 8:45 am

We were looking for a semi uncommon J name for our third baby. His siblings are Janessa and Jagger.
We came across Judah and liked it. We didn’t love the religious association but overlooked that anyway.

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Amanda Apr 5 at 9:16 pm

My husband and I had been trying to have a baby for more than 8 years. The doctor had given up on us. She told me there’s nothing else she could do that I needed fertility treatments like IUI or IVF. I went home devastated and ready to give up too; but I told my mom who then prayed for me on a prayer line. Some weeks later I was pregnant and overjoyed. I knew that all praise goes to the most high God. So what better name to thank him with than Judah.

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Alison Apr 4 at 10:06 am

Judah means praise! We wanted a Biblical name and prayed a lot about it, and this is what we ended up with! We love the name. The only thing I don’t like and didn’t think about, is that his middle name is James and my extended family has been calling him “JJ”. I’m really not a fan of that, but oh well!

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Hanna Joines Mar 3 at 8:38 am

We chose the name Judah because it means “praise,” and after having a miscarriage, we were praising God for our rainbow baby, who actually arrived 2 years to the day after my loss date. He came 12 weeks early, but he’s been beating all the odds!

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Sarah Jun 21 at 11:07 am

Judah means “the praise of the Lord” in Hebrew and it is our prayer that he would come to know, love and praise God! The beautiful song “Lion and the Lamb” was the pathway to how we fell in love with the name…. “Our God is the lion, the Lion of Judah!”

Judah was a c section baby, and praise the Lord that he was! I desired a vaginal birth so much but he wouldn’t go head down. I was going to do the ECV and did one session of Webster chiropractor when something kept making me feel that he just couldn’t go head down. So I didn’t go through with the ECV and chiropractic sessions. When he came out, the cord was wrapped around his neck, twice! Poor little guy. Now he is healthy, safe and well. So I just wanted to share with other mamas that sometimes the best way for our babies to come out safely, may not be vaginally. And that’s okay. 🙂

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Carmela Apr 27 at 4:05 pm

We both really like the name. It’s not a family name or anything. We don’t really have a story.

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Christine Apr 22 at 10:02 am

We love that it means praise and that Jesus was the lion of the tribe of Judah. We are praying this one praises the Lord all his life and is as bold as a lion for Christ.

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Taylor Mar 16 at 11:10 am

We name him Samuel Judah because we prayed very hard for him for months. He came to us after 3 miscarriages. Samuel means prayed for child and Judah means praise the Lord, which we do on the daily for him.

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Judah Feb 24 at 12:00 pm

Judah means “praise,” which is the posture of our hearts in this season of joy. We underwent three rounds of IVF and two miscarriages before we were able to have this bundle of joy. We are thankful to God for this gift and what a blessing he is to our lives!

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Hannah Feb 7 at 11:00 am

My husband’s middle name and I love the meaning – praise.

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Amanda Jan 7 at 1:37 pm

We chose the first name Judah, because it means praise. We are so thankful to God for this baby and praise Him every time we think of our sweet boy. How middle name, Michael, means who is like God. It is also my grandfathers name, my father in law’s name and my husband’s middle name.

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Elan Price May 16 at 12:23 pm

Hey Moms! We chose the name Judah because it is a powerful name with a lot of loving force and a strong biblical lineage. The line of Judah gave rise to King David, King Solomon, and Jesus, who is sometimes referred to as “The lion of the tribe of Judah” . I love everything about it and I call him my little JuJu bean. He is so beautiful and calm and I’m more in love than I ever thought I could be.

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Leah Apr 30 at 10:06 am

We wanted a strong biblical name that had significant meaning. Judah has such a unique story in the Bible and has such an impact on our faith. It’s not very common and we wanted a unique yet strong masculine name.

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Amber Jan 10 at 3:25 pm

We needed a strong name for this 9th child and 6th son. Judah fit that need and also went well with our other children’s names. It means Praise.

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Alisha Dec 27 at 10:45 am

We choose the name because if it’s meaning.

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Haley Dec 7 at 10:36 am

Because Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah and I love that!

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Jayme Nov 3 at 10:36 am

My husband and I really wanted to name our first child something that meant praise or worship. We came across the name while reading, and it just stuck. Our little guy loves music and is such a happy boy.

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Simone Jun 17 at 8:46 am

When my husband and I found out we were pregnant the first time we picked out a girl and a boy name. When we got pregnant again and found out it was a boy we knew Judah was the name. My husband wanted a name from the Bible and for me it was important to have a name with a good meaning. Judah means praise. He came after a miscarriage that almost took my life. Throughout that situation we praised the Lord. And I think he is just a perfect reminder that regardless of where you are right now or what you are going through you can always find something to be grateful for and praise the Lord.

I like names that are not common but also not too weird. So Judah was perfect for us.

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Jesse Jun 13 at 4:13 pm

I wanted to stick with a two syllable name since my other two boys had a two syllable name. The meaning of names is also important to me and Judah means “praise”. I had two miscarriages before getting pregnant with Judah and during the end of my pregnancy I just prayed that he would be born healthy and I would be well too. After his birth my first thought was “praise God for this healthy baby!”

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Erica Jun 12 at 6:41 am

I chose it because I love that it means “Praise”
It’s a name that people have heard of without beingpopular or overused.
It goes well with our daughter’s name

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Tiffany Jun 7 at 9:18 am

Yahuah Elohim told me to name him this so I listened to our Elohim!

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Katie Apr 26 at 7:41 am

When I got pregnant, and before we knew the gender, my husband and I weren’t super serious about discussing names yet since it was so early on in my pregnancy. I was talking about names with my brother one day, and he said, “You should ask God about what name to give your baby.” DUH. I ask God about so many things, and if He is the one creating this child inside me, He surely has a name already for my sweet baby. So as my husband and I started to pray about it, and the name Judah kept coming to me. Every time I’d read my Bible, somehow there was reference to Judah. Every sermon I was hearing, there was mention of Judah. And every time I heard the name Judah, it was like my baby jumped within me. I felt a rush of excitement. Every. Time. It was wild. Any way, a couple weeks pass and life gets busy, I feel sick and insomnia kicks in like crazy, I forget about names. Then we have our ultrasound, and we find out the gender and its a BOY! So happy! And my husband says: “but we already knew that since God gave you the name Judah”. I completely forgot. Yes, yes He did, and yes, yes it’s a boy. So throughout the rest of my pregnancy, we kept praying if Judah was the right name, and we kept sensing it was. So the big day comes, I end up switching to a home birth 5 weeks before delivering (had this really strong sense that I should) and it turns out I had a 35 hours of early & active labor, and pushed for over 5 hours. There are so many details, like an extremely short chord, plus it was wrapped around our boys neck, plus he was posterior, when he came out he was turning blue because of cord, so my midwife had to reach in and pull his shoulders out, which because the cord was so short ended up ripping part of my placenta, which caused bleeding….etc…etc…etc… so many things but in the end our boy was GREAT! A great APGAR score test, and I am good, and wow…(If we would have had the original planned hospital birth, I’m pretty sure it would have been an emergency c-section). sSo many things we praise God for! And that is exactly what Judah means – PRAISE! (not to mention it took us a long time to get pregnant, so we definitely PRAISE GOD for JUDAH!)

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Nat Apr 13 at 3:12 pm

After years of infertility, and the sweet adoption of our first child, we became pregnant. We were over the moon, as you can imagine. We chose the name Judah because it means, Praise God, which was a pretty good way to describe how we felt. We paired Judah with Nathaniel, meaning gift from God. Praise God, gift from God. That’s our Judah.

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