Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Judith

Judith is an old Biblical name, from the Hebrew Yehudit meaning “Jewess” or "woman from Judea". Her story is recorded in the Book of Judith in the Apocrypha, one of the most popular books and for good reason. It’s filled with tragedy, determination and triumph (as well as sex, lies and murder). Have we got your attention yet? Considered historically inaccurate today, the book has come to represent a parable with a theological message or even perhaps the first historical novel ever written. Judith is the heroine of the story which takes place at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian conquest of Assyria. The king’s general and the story’s villain, Holofernes, is sent to punish rebels and besieges the city of Bethulia in Judea. The Jews are frantic and beg their leaders to surrender. Enter Judith. She is described as the wealthy widow of Manassas “of a goodly countenance, and very beautiful to behold” – but more importantly, she is more brave and faithful than her fellow compatriots. After delivering a rousing speech to the Judeans, she delays their surrender. She then marches courageously to Holofernes’ tent while the soldiers in his camp marveled at her beauty. Judith flirted with the general for several days, all the while gaining his trust and confidence. Soon afterwards, this cunning femme fatale joined Holofernes at a banquet, and because his “heart was ravished with her” he consumed more wine than normal. As he lay passed out in his tent, Judith took his sword and with two mighty “smites” upon his neck beheaded the enemy of her people. Triumphantly, Judith carried Holofernes’ head back to her city which inspired the Jews into victorious battle. Incidentally, the Book of Judith is not included in the Protestant or Hebrew traditions because of its sexual content. And Sigmund Freud liked to point out how Judith’s beheading of Holofernes symbolized castration. In the end, the story of Judith is much like the story of David and Goliath, in that the weak can overcome the stronger with a little craftiness and cleverness – oh, and of course, with a little help from God. The name was widely used in the Middle Ages but less so among English speakers. It seems to have surfaced sometime around the Reformation, as evidenced by William Shakespeare who named his daughter Judith Quiney Shakespeare in 1585.

All About the Baby Name – Judith

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME JUDITH

The number Nine personality represents the completion or ending of the cycle, and a need for perfection. This is the personality that moves from "self" to a greater understanding and compassion for the human condition and the world order. They want to make the world a better place. Nines are capable of great spiritual and humanitarian achievements. They are courageous and fearless, able to fight great battles on behalf of worthy causes. These personalities will not tolerate injustice. They are compassionate people with a strong sensitivity to others. They are able to both educate and inspire. Friendships and relationships are the lifeblood to the Nine, and they place a high value on love and affection. Nines are often exceptionally gifted artistically, and they have a keen imagination and enterprising mind.

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME JUDITH

Judith has had an interesting career on the female naming charts in America. The U.S. government first began tracking naming trends in 1880, so our data only goes back that far. At the turn of the 20th century, Judith was only a moderately popular name but, by the 1920s, she was showing signs of improvement so that by the mid-1930s, the name landed in the Top 100. Not content to stop there, Judith very quickly achieved a position on the Top 10 list of most favored girl names (1939). The apex of her popularity was 1940 when she was the fourth most popular girl’s name in America (Mary, Barbara and Patricia had her beat). Judith was a top favorite all during the 1940s and 50s; the name finally fell off the Top 100 list in 1965. From the 1970s onward, the name’s decline on the charts has been fast and furious. Once a fashionable choice given to over 20,000 baby girls per year, Judith is now only given to 300. These mid-century favorites haven’t fared so well in the 21st century. Still, Judith remains a name associated with strength and wisdom (not to mention beauty). Some people feel the name is out-dated, but to us, it’s a timeless classic with a bevy of possible nicknames: Jude, Judy or even Jody. The French pronounce Judith zhoo-DEET and the Germans YOO-dit. You don’t have to be a “Jewess” to love this name; it has universal appeal.

Quick Facts

ON JUDITH

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

Hebrew

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

2

RANKING POPULARITY:

996

PRONUNCIATION:

JEW-dith

SIMPLE MEANING:

Jewess, woman from Judea

Characteristics

OF JUDITH

Multi-talented

Intuitive

Oneness

Idealistic

Philanthropy

Independent

Perfection

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Judith

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME JUDITH

Judith is the subject of the Old English poem, “Judith “, the story of the Biblical beauty who beheaded Holofernes . Its authorship and date of origin remain unknown (believed to have been written sometime between the seventh and tenth centuries), and only three out of twelve cantos remain in existence. The nature of Judith’s story, however, is front and center, as she is depicted as a moral giantess who conquered the “beast” for the sake of her country. The poem was most likely composed as an exhortation of a model of bravery for Anglo Saxons in a time of war. Judith is depicted as beautiful, courageous and good, the murderous aspect of her deed bathed in the sheen of saintly adulation. Indeed, though a woman, she is as revered as St. George of the dragon slaying profession. Judith’s foe, the Assyrian general Holofernes, is presented as a monstrous drunkard whom Judith easily trounces (well, beheads) after he falls into a drunken stupor trying to seduce her. She then leads the Israelites to victory in battle, bearing his head high in triumph (in a slight deviation from the biblical rendition). The deed and its aftermath have been the subjects of numerous paintings over the years, and have come to be an iconic representation of the particular power of A Woman with a Cause – in other words, don’t mess with this gal!

Judith Mortimer is a character in one of Irish author Brian Cleeve’s historical novels, Judith, published in 1978. Judith is an independent-minded young woman living in Essex with her poverty-stricken father at the turn of the 18th century. In order to keep their household afloat, Judith allows a local band of thieves to use the farm’s outbuildings for storage of their bounty. The son of the group’s leader is in love with Judith and declares himself to her, resolving to abandon his life of crime. At the same time, Judith’s father is involved in a property dispute with a distant relative over his land; the relative offers to resolve the matter by an inappropriate marriage for Judith, which she refuses. Now, as if all this were not enough, Judith’s father dies and her association with the thieves is made known to the authorities. Judith flees to London and falls in with some unsavory characters (“brothel” is the operative word here). Pursued by both her spurned suitor and her beloved, she is first rescued (by the good guy) and then kidnapped and put in an insane asylum (by the bad guy). After enduring extraordinary deprivation there, she is finally released, only to fall victim to a gang of beggars who set her to work begging in the streets of London. After many more months of hardship, Judith is finally rescued by a good Christian lady, reunited with and married to her love, and awarded full ownership of the farm. Why Dickens himself could not have done better by her!

Judith Sutpen is the ill-fated daughter of Thomas Sutpen in William Falkner’s novel, Absalom, Absalom!, published in 1936. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, this is a tumultuous story of battle, slavery, miscegenation and incest. Judith is as strong-willed as her father, and she is determined to marry Charles Bon, a university mate of her brother Henry. One little catch – Bon is her half-brother, a result of the illegitimate union between her father and a woman of mixed race. Judith’s father tries to stop the marriage, while Judith goes doggedly about her plans, touchingly making her wedding dress out of scraps in war-deprived times. Her brother, Henry, is at first for the marriage, in spite of the familial relationship, but opposes it once he learns of Charles’ racial background (perhaps just a wee misplacement of priorities?). Henry then murders Charles and goes into a self-imposed exile. Poor Judith – somehow amidst all this tragedy she manages to bury the body of her beloved, run the plantation, and make a home for Charles Bon’s own illegitimate (!) son. Finally, she dies of yellow fever while nursing young Charles through his own illness. Now this is Faulknerian Southern Gothic at its best!

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME JUDITH

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Judith


Popular Songs

ON JUDITH

Judith
an oratorio composed by Thomas Arne (1761)

Famous People

NAMED JUDITH

Judith Light (actress)
Judith Resnik (astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger explosion)
Judith Sheindlin (aka Judge Judy/TV personality)
Judith Leyster (Dutch painter)
Judy Blume (children’s book author)
Judy Collins (singer)
Judy Greer (actress)
Judith Light (actress)
Judith Resnik (astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger explosion)
Judith Sheindlin (aka Judge Judy/TV personality)
Judith Leyster (Dutch painter)
Judy Blume (children’s book author)
Judy Collins (singer)
Judy Greer (actress)
Judith Light (actress)
Judith Resnik (astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger explosion)
Judith Sheindlin (aka Judge Judy/TV personality)
Judith Leyster (Dutch painter)
Judy Blume (children’s book author)
Judy Collins (singer)
Judy Greer (actress)

Children of Famous People

NAMED JUDITH

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Judith

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME JUDITH

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Judith