Jules
Masculine · “From the Roman family name Julius”
Jules is given to both — 9,383 boys and 2,084 girls since 1880. See Jules as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Jules is the French form of Julius, a name carried by one of the oldest families of Rome and still spoken daily in Paris. It is one syllable, ending on a soft z, and it has been in continuous use in English-speaking America since long before anyone alive today was born. The nineteenth-century novelist Jules Verne fixed the spelling in the mind of the English-reading world.
How old is the name Jules?
Jules was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jules alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 5,000 people named Jules are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jules most popular?
Jules peaked in 1893, reaching #401 nationally. Today it ranks #1393, 992 places below that high. See the whole 1893 chart.
Jules appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Iulius to Jules
The story of Jules
Iulius was the name of a Roman clan, the gens Julia, whose most famous member was Gaius Julius Caesar; from there it passed into the Christian world as Julius, borne by early bishops of Rome. French speakers wore it down to Jules, which is where the modern short shape comes from — the s is silent in French, sounded in English. Jules Verne, writing in France in the nineteenth century, sent the spelling around the world in translation. In the United States it arrived largely through French-speaking families, and its footing in Louisiana sits alongside that state's long French naming tradition.
Meaningscholars disagree
From the Roman family name Julius; the meaning of Julius itself is disputed
Two serious readings compete for Julius. One connects it to the Greek ioulos, 'downy-bearded', in the sense of youthful. The other ties the Julii to Jove — Jupiter — through an older Latin form of the god's name, which is how the family itself explained its ancestry. Neither has won, and the name is older than the arguments about it.
How the name formed
- Iulius
- Julius
- Jules
Related forms: Iulius · Julius · Giulio · Julio · Juliusz · Yuliy
Pronouncing Jules
JOOLZ
In French the s is silent — closer to ZHOOL, with the soft zh of 'measure'. English speakers say JOOLZ, identical in sound to 'jewels'. Both are correct in their own language; families with French ties sometimes keep the French version at home.
Nicknames for Jules
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1918146 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #401reached in 1893
- Change vs 2022
- +19.1%131 in 2025, from 110
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.
Jules in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Iulius in Latin — same name
- Julius in German — same name
- Giulio in Italian — same name
- Julio in Spanish — same name
- Juliusz in Polish — same name
- Yuliy in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Louisiana. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE, Statistics Canada. Sources
Juless among us
people named Jules are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 13,039 born in 2025 was named Jules
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Jules 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 Jules is headed
Jules should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Jules beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jules in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, spelled the way English speakers read it — rarely misspelled once heard.
- An unbroken written line back to Roman antiquity, through Latin, French and English.
- Currently charts in France and Canada as well as the United States, so it travels without translation.
- Doubles as a complete given name and as a ready-made short form for Julian or Julius, if a longer legal name is wanted.
- It sounds exactly like 'jewels', which invites the obvious joke and the occasional confusion over the phone.
- In English the same short form reaches girls through Julia and Juliet, so a boy named Jules will sometimes be assumed female on paper before he is met.
- Two pronunciations exist side by side — the French silent-s ZHOOL and the English JOOLZ — and you will end up choosing one and correcting people occasionally.
- It is uncommon enough in the US that a Jules is unlikely to share a classroom with another, which cuts both ways: no confusion, but also a lifetime of spelling it out for people expecting Julius.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Jules to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Jules? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Jules
Masculine · #1393 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Juless are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,000 people named Jules are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jules in 2025?
- Jules ranks #1393 among US boy names in 2025, with 131 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jules?
- About 1 in every 13,039 US boys born in 2025 was named Jules — 131 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jules with classmates?
- Jules will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jules
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sakai#1393 · Scotty#1393 · Scout#1393 · Cam#1393 · Aviel#1393 · Marley#1393 · Aariv#1393 · Lyric#1388
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jules? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jules and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
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; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle