Judas
Masculine · “praised”
Judas is Judah in Greek dress, and Judah is one of the great names of the Hebrew Bible: the fourth son of Jacob, the tribe that gave its name to Judaea and to the word Jew. In the first century it was among the commonest names a Jewish man could have. One bearer changed what the name could mean.
How old is the name Judas?
Judas first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Judas alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 600 people named Judas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Judas most popular?
Judas peaked in 1975, reaching #3659 nationally. Today it ranks #4857, 1,198 places below that high. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yehudah to Judas
The story of Judas
The name was everywhere in Roman Judaea, and the New Testament alone carries several: the betrayer, another apostle usually called Jude to keep them apart, a brother of Jesus, and a Judas of Galilee who led a revolt. Two centuries earlier Judas Maccabeus had led the rising the festival of Hanukkah commemorates, and for Jewish families the name has kept that association rather than the Christian one. In English it went entirely out of use after the Middle Ages, while Jude, Judah and the Spanish Judas survived.
Meaning
praised; let God be praised
Hebrew Yehudah, connected in Genesis with the verb yadah, to praise or give thanks, in the mother's declaration at his birth. Greek wrote it Ioudas and Latin Iudas, which English took whole.
How the name formed
- Yehudah
- Ioudas
- Iudas
- Judas
Related forms: יהודה · Judah · Jude · Judas · Judas
Pronouncing Judas
JOO-dus
Two syllables, stress in front. Spanish says HOO-das with an h at the start, which is a noticeably different name in the ear.
Nicknames for Judas
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 202227 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3659reached in 1975
- Change vs 2024
- +5.3%20 in 2025, from 19
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Judas in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- יהודה in Hebrew — transliteration
- Judah in English — same name
- Jude in English — related form
- Judas in Spanish — same name
- Judas in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Arizona, California.
Judass among us
people named Judas are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 85,404 born in 2025 was named Judas
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Berel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Judas's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Berel climbed just as high around 1960, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Berel's path sketches the road Judas is walking now.
Judas sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Judas beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Judas in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is one of the oldest continuously recorded names in the world.
- The meaning is settled, positive and stated in the biblical text itself.
- Jude and Judah are both available as everyday alternatives with the same root.
- In English the name means betrayal to almost everyone who hears it, and that is the first thing a child will be told.
- The association is far weaker in Spanish and Greek, so the name reads differently depending on the community.
- Judah and Jude carry the same history without the weight, and most English-speaking families choose one of those instead.
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What they receive
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Judas
Masculine · #4857 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Judass are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Judas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Judas in 2025?
- Judas ranks #4857 among US boy names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Judas?
- About 1 in every 85,404 US boys born in 2025 was named Judas — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Judas with classmates?
- Judas will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Judas
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carlyle#4857 · Russ#4857 · Hercules#4857 · Marcial#4857 · Lauro#4857 · Marin#4857 · Gil#4857 · Aloysius#4857
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Judas? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Judas and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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