July
Feminine · “of Julius”
July is given to both — 854 girls and 279 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Only two months are named after people, and both were renamed by political decision. Quintilis, the fifth month, became July for Julius Caesar; Sextilis, the sixth, became August for Augustus. That they were the fifth and sixth tells you the Roman year began in March.
How old is the name July?
July first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical July alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 800 people named July are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name July most popular?
July peaked in 1976, reaching #3812 nationally. Today it ranks #6546, 2,734 places below that high. See the whole 1976 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Quintilis to July
The story of July
The Roman senate renamed Quintilis in Caesar's honor in the year of his assassination, and Sextilis for Augustus a few decades later; later emperors tried the same trick and none of the renamings stuck. Month names as personal names are a small and uneven English tradition: June and April are well established, May is common, August and Augustine survive as men's names, and the rest are rare. July belongs to the same American nature and word naming of the 1960s and 1970s that produced Autumn, Summer and Rainbow, and its best year in United States records is 1976, which is also the year of the American bicentennial.
Meaning
of Julius, the month named for Julius Caesar
Latin Iulius, the month renamed in 44 before the common era for Julius Caesar, who was born in it and who reformed the calendar. The gens name Iulius has no recovered meaning of its own. That the later months are still called September through December, seventh through tenth, while sitting in the ninth through twelfth positions, is the fossil of the older ten-month year that began in March.
How the name formed
- Quintilis
- Iulius
- Julie
- July
Related forms: Julia · Juillet · Luglio
Pronouncing July
juh-LY
Two syllables with the stress at the end, following the month. Some families front-stress it as JOO-ly, which is the older English pronunciation of the month and is now archaic.
Nicknames for July
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
- 1962
- Most girls named
- 202028 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3812reached in 1976
- Change vs 2024
- −10.5%17 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.
July in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Julia in Spanish — related form
- Juillet in French — related form
- Luglio in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Julys among us
people named July are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was named July
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of July
- #6546
- July on the 2025 chart
- #928
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. July went to 17 girls in 2025, but Juli is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 32, which makes it the 928th most-given girls’ name of the year — 5,618 places above the chart.
- July17
- Juli15
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 94,545 for July itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Elita test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. July's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Elita climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Elita's path sketches the road July is walking now.
July 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
July beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to July in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A single clear reference that every English speaker understands at once.
- Related by descent to Julia, Julian and Julius.
- Sits with June and April, both long-established English names.
- It is a month name and will appear in dates and sentences constantly.
- Julie and July are close enough to be misheard for one another.
- In American ears the name is dated to the 1970s.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
July
Feminine · #6546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Julys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named July are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell July?
- July is the most-used spelling in US records — 17 of the 32 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Juli.
- How popular is the name July in 2025?
- July ranks #6546 among US girl names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name July?
- About 1 in every 94,545 US girls born in 2025 was named July — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name July with classmates?
- July will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside July
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseann#6546 · Solveig#6546 · Elona#6546 · Rosette#6546 · Bradie#6546 · Rida#6546 · Gwendalyn#6546 · Lorene#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles July? See the current top 100.
Choosing between July 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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