Juliet
Feminine · “From the Roman family name Julius”
Juliet is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 37,966 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Juliet came into English through Shakespeare, who took it from an Italian story that had already been retold in French and then in an English poem of 1562. Three syllables that start soft and land on a light final beat, with a Latin family name at the bottom of it all. It has been read aloud on stages for more than four centuries without ever becoming a costume.
How old is the name Juliet?
Juliet was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Juliet alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 34,500 people named Juliet are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Juliet most popular?
Juliet peaked in 2017, reaching #227 nationally. Today it ranks #274, 47 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Where it comes from
From Julius to Juliet
The story of Juliet
The root is Julius, one of the great Roman family names, which gave Latin Julia and then French Julie and its diminutive Juliette. Italian storytellers of the sixteenth century — Luigi da Porto and later Matteo Bandello — told a tale of feuding Verona families with a heroine called Giulietta; a French version reached England as Arthur Brooke's poem 'The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet' in 1562. Shakespeare built his play on Brooke's poem around 1595, and the English spelling Juliet has been in continuous use since. He liked the name enough to reuse it for a second, quieter character in 'Measure for Measure'.
Meaningscholars disagree
From the Roman family name Julius, whose own meaning is not settled
The Julii of Rome traced their name to Iulus, son of Aeneas in Roman legend. A long-running alternative connects Julius to Latin iuvenis, 'youthful' — the gloss most name books print. Both are old proposals and neither has closed the question; what is certain is the Roman clan name itself.
How the name formed
- Julius
- Julia
- Julie
- Juliette
- Juliet
Related forms: Juliette · Giulietta · Julieta · Julieta · Julia · Yuliya
Pronouncing Juliet
JOO-lee-et
Stress on the first syllable in American English. British speakers often soften the ending to JOO-lee-uht. The stressed-last version joo-lee-ET follows the French Juliette and is heard occasionally.
Nicknames for Juliet
High
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 girls named
- 20161,397 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #227reached in 2017
- Change vs 2022
- +5.6%1,136 in 2025, from 1,076
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.
Juliet in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Juliette in French — same name
- Giulietta in Italian — same name
- Julieta in Spanish — same name
- Julieta in Portuguese — same name
- Julia in Polish — related form
- Yuliya in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Juliets among us
people named Juliet are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,415 born in 2025 was named Juliet
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 Fatima test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Juliet's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fatima climbed just as high around 2001, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fatima's path sketches the road Juliet is walking now.
Juliet 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 Juliet is headed
Juliet should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Juliet beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Juliet in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Instantly recognizable spelling in English, thanks to four centuries of the play being read in schools — few people need it repeated.
- Travels intact: Juliette, Giulietta, Julieta and Julia are the same name in French, Italian, Spanish and Polish.
- Several established short forms — Jules, Julie, Etta — so the name can be formal or casual without effort.
- Long unbroken record in American use, without ever crowding a classroom.
- The NATO alphabet spells the letter J as Juliett, so the sound is familiar even to people who have never met one.
- The Shakespeare link is permanent. Expect balcony jokes and 'wherefore art thou' from strangers, and expect the play's ending to be mentioned by someone who thinks they are the first.
- Juliet, Juliette and Julieta all circulate, so the spelling will need confirming on forms even though the name itself is well known.
- Spoken quickly, it sits close to Julie, Julia and Juliana, and gets swapped for them now and then.
- It is a name most people know but few children carry, which cuts both ways: no confusion in a class list, but also no ready-made pack of others who share it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Juliet 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 Juliet? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Juliet
Feminine · #274 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Juliets are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 34,500 people named Juliet are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Juliet in 2025?
- Juliet ranks #274 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,136 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Juliet?
- About 1 in every 1,415 US girls born in 2025 was named Juliet — 1,136 in all.
- Will my child share the name Juliet with classmates?
- Juliet will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Juliet
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lola#275 · Luciana#273 · Khloe#272 · Harmony#276 · Lilith#277 · Azalea#278 · Nayeli#270 · Evie#270
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Juliet? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Juliet 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.
Or jump into a head-to-head
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle