Jude
Feminine · “praised”
Jude is given to both — 3,024 girls and 53,982 boys since 1880. See Jude as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Jude is Judah — praised, in Hebrew — and Saint Jude became the patron of lost causes because nobody prayed to him, his name being too close to Judas.
How old is the name Jude?
Jude first appears in US birth records in 1934 — 91 years ago. The typical Jude is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,900 people named Jude are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jude most popular?
Jude peaked in 2018, reaching #1497 nationally. Today it ranks #2036, 539 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yehudah to Jude
The story of Jude
Jude the apostle was avoided in prayer for centuries because his name was so nearly Judas, and the tradition holds he became patron of desperate cases precisely because he was the one nobody else asked. The Beatles song of 1968 made the sound familiar everywhere. Feminine Jude appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
praised
From the Hebrew Yehudah, from a root meaning 'to praise' — Genesis has Leah name her fourth son saying she will praise the Lord. Greek Ioudas gave both Jude and Judas. The Hebrew is transparent and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- Yehudah
- Ioudas
- Jude
Related forms: יהודה · Jude · Judah
Pronouncing Jude
JOOD
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Jude
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
- 1934
- Most girls named
- 2018146 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1497reached in 2018
- Change vs 2023
- −21.8%93 in 2025, from 119
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.
Jude in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- יהודה in Hebrew — related form
- Jude in French — same name
- Judah in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Michigan.
Judes among us
people named Jude are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 17,282 born in 2025 was named Jude
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 Jona test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jude's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jona climbed just as high around 1964, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jona's path sketches the road Jude is walking now.
Jude 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
Where Jude is headed
Jude is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jude beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jude in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That a saint became patron of lost causes because nobody prayed to him is a first-rate story.
- The praised meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It reads as strongly masculine in most of the English-speaking world.
- The nearness to Judas is unavoidable.
- One song dominates the association for many people.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Jude to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Jude
Feminine · #2036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Judes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,900 people named Jude are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jude in 2025?
- Jude ranks #2036 among US girl names in 2025, with 93 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jude?
- About 1 in every 17,282 US girls born in 2025 was named Jude — 93 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jude with classmates?
- Jude will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jude
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Moira#2036 · Alyanna#2036 · Aysel#2036 · Jaycie#2036 · Swayze#2036 · Mayzie#2036 · Marion#2036 · Tania#2036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jude? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jude and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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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