Julius
Meaning of Julius
Julius, pronounced JOO-lee-uhs in English and YOO-lee-oos in German, constitutes the Anglicized rendering of the Latin nomen Iulius, a patrician clan name whose etymology is traced either to the Greek ioulos, “soft downy hair of youth,” or to an archaic form of Jupiter, thereby linking it to the Indo-European root for “sky father.” Historical resonance is immediate: Gaius Julius Caesar embedded the designation in Western political memory, Shakespeare amplified its dramatic reach, and later bearers such as Nobel laureate Julius Axelrod and basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving have diversified its cultural footprint. In the United States, federal vital-statistics reveal a pattern of steady mid-tier use: after occupying Top-100 status throughout the late nineteenth century, the name gradually settled into the 300–400 range, where it has hovered for the past two decades, registering 838 newborns in 2024. This statistical stability, combined with its classical pedigree, affords Julius an equilibrium rare among revival names: it is sufficiently familiar to evade eccentricity, yet sufficiently under-deployed to confer distinction—an appealing calculus for parents seeking a historically grounded, internationally intelligible choice.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as JOO-lee-uhs (/ˈdʒuːliəs/)
German
- Pronunced as YOO-lee-oos (/ˈjuːliʊs/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Julius
| Julius Nyerere was a Tanzanian anticolonial leader and theorist who served as prime minister and president of Tanganyika and later as president of Tanzania, championing Ujamaa socialism. |
| Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman whose conquests and brief dictatorship helped end the Roman Republic and usher in the Roman Empire. |
| Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were an American couple executed in 1953 for Soviet espionage, the first civilians put to death for peacetime spying, in a case still widely contested. |
| Julius Erving, known as Dr. J, is a former American basketball star who helped legitimize the ABA and was its best known player when it merged with the NBA in 1976. |
| Julius Randle is an American NBA player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a three time All Star, two time All NBA selection, and the 2021 Most Improved Player. |
| Julius Maada Bio is a Sierra Leonean politician and retired brigadier who has served as the countrys fifth president since 2018 and previously led a military government as head of state in 1996. |
| Sir Johann Franz Julius von Haast was a German born New Zealand explorer and geologist who founded the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. |
| Julius Wilson Hobson was an American activist and politician who served on the Council of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Board of Education. |
| Julius Dewayne Thomas is a former NFL tight end who played football and basketball at Portland State, was a 2011 fourth round pick of the Denver Broncos, and later played for the Jaguars and Dolphins. |
| Julius Jones - Julius Andre Maurice Jones is an American former NFL running back who starred at Notre Dame, was a 2004 second round pick by the Dallas Cowboys, and also played for the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints. |
| American biochemist Julius Axelrod shared the 1970 Nobel Prize for revealing how catecholamine neurotransmitters are released and reabsorbed and for key insights into the pineal gland and the sleep-wake cycle. |
| Julius Augustus Furer was a decorated US Navy rear admiral and naval architect who led World War II research and development and served as senior member of the National Research and Development Board. |
| American screenwriter Julius J. Epstein is best known for co-writing Casablanca with his twin Philip and Howard E. Koch, winning an Academy Award for adapting the unpublished play Everybody Comes to Rick's. |
| Julius Hirsch was a Jewish German international footballer and 1912 Olympian who won titles with Karlsruher FV and SpVgg Furth and was murdered at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. |
| Julius Richard Petri was a German microbiologist credited with inventing the Petri dish while assisting Robert Koch. |
| Julius Yeshu Çiçek - Mor Julius Yeshu Cicek, the first Syriac Orthodox archbishop for Central Europe, championed Aramean identity and authored over 100 works, including some in Aramaic. |
