Judah
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The story
Judah represents Hebrew Yehudah, probably connected with a verb meaning “praise.” Genesis explains the naming through Leah’s thanks to God when she has her fourth son. In the biblical family history, Judah is a son of Jacob and Leah and the ancestor after whom the tribe of Judah is named. He is also a complicated character: he proposes selling Joseph rather than killing him, then later offers himself as a slave in Benjamin’s place, unable to bear what another loss would do to their father.
The name later belonged to the southern kingdom of Judah, whose existence is documented outside the Bible. An inscription on the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib’s clay prism records payments from Hezekiah, king of Judah, during the campaign of 701 BCE. The inscription presents the campaign from the Assyrian ruler’s point of view.
Judah Maccabee was another bearer, many centuries later. He led a Jewish revolt against the Seleucid kingdom under Antiochus IV in the second century BCE. The rededication of Jerusalem’s Temple in 164 BCE stands at the center of Hanukkah’s historical memory. The First Book of Maccabees describes a renewed altar, music and the decision to observe the celebration annually for eight days. That account of restoring worship is distinct from the later tradition about the miraculous oil.
Judas and Jude, familiar from English versions of the New Testament, belong to the same Hebrew name family. Their later associations differ, but those differences do not give them separate Hebrew roots.
In written records since at least 1611: the 1611 King James Bible, Genesis 43.
How popular is Judah around the world?
In the United States, 12,849 babies were named Judah between 2020 and 2025.
Judah is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, South Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, Mexico City and Brazil.
United States
1 in 1,700
In the United States, 12,849 babies were named Judah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Judah peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 2,500
In New Zealand, 23 boys named Judah were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 3,7002017
In South Australia, 5 boys were registered as Judah in 2017.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 3,700
In Canada, 98 boys named Judah were born in 2024, the 335th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 5,900
In England and Wales, 100 boys named Judah were born in 2025, the 404th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 11,000
In Scotland, 4 boys named Judah were registered in 2024, the 619th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Mexico City City
1 in 59,000
In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Judah in 2022.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 199 people in Brazil were named Judah, ranked 25,489th, with a median age of 6.
Among people named Judah living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 69 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Ireland
last on record 2024
Judah is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Not on the record in Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Judah
Most people given the name Judah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Judah travels
Jewish American · a beloved patriarch and tribal name rising quickly today
Keep exploring
Names like Judah · Nicknames for Judah · Jewish American baby names · Hebrew baby names
The Judah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Judah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Judah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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