Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Juliet

Juliet is the anglicized form of the French name Juliette or the Italian Giulietta. It was first used by the English playwright William Shakespeare in his 1596 well-known tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”. Juliet and her similar sounding sisters all descend from the Latin Julia (from the old Roman family name Julius). The name is etymologically derived from one of a couple places. For one, Julius is said to mean “downy-bearded, soft-haired” in old Latin which indicates a ‘youthfulness’ given the time of one’s life when the first soft beard hairs grow. Secondly, the name Julius is thought to mean ‘descended from Jove’, another name for the Roman god Jupiter who presided over the Roman laws and social order. In any case, the most famous name bearer from antiquity was Julius Caesar, a great Roman general and statesman who notably conquered the Gaul’s. Due to his great victory, he was rewarded with almost unprecedented power in Rome as their dictator/Emperor. Ultimately assassinated on the Senate floor in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar’s legacy would not be forgotten. The masculine and feminine forms of this name are widely used and among the most successful historically speaking. The more exotic Juliet has mainly been used in moderation but appears to be experiencing a 21st century revival.

All About the Baby Name – Juliet

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME JULIET

The number Five personality loves the excitement of life and can easily adapt to all situations. As natural adventurers, these personalities thrive on the new and unexpected and prefer to be in constant motion. It makes them feel alive. They'll stir up some action if there's not enough around, and as inherent risk-takers they enjoy pushing the envelope. Naturally rebellious, the Five personality has no fear and never resists change.  Traveling and new experiences feed their souls. Fives are very social and attract friends with ease. People love to be around the Five fun-loving and exciting energy.  This is also a lucky number in numerology (like the Threes), so fortune seems to shine on them, helped along by their own optimism and good-nature. Fives have a quick wit, a cerebral mind, and are generally very persuasive. 

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME JULIET

Juliet has been a name in use in America since at least the 19th century. She entered the 20th century with low levels of use and was basically an unpopular choice for most of the 1900s. Juliet even disappeared from the American female naming charts altogether during the 1930s and then again in the 80s and 90s. This was just a name that couldn’t find its legs. Then came 1996 with the release of the film “Romeo + Juliet”, an MTV-inspired modernized version of Shakespeare’s play starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet. The name went from total obscurity to low-moderate levels of success in two short years. As we’ve entered this new century, Juliet is faring better on the charts than she ever has in the past. We’ll have to wait and see what she does in the coming years. The name has a lot of competition (Julia, Juliana, and Julianna are all more popular than this fair lady Juliet). Even the more fanciful Julissa and Juliette as well as the Italian Giuliana are not too far behind her on the charts. But we love Juliet best thanks to Shakespeare’s star-crossed heroine. The ultimate victim of unrequited love, the ever ‘youthful’ Juliet will forever remain in our hearts.

Quick Facts

ON JULIET

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

English

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

3

RANKING POPULARITY:

238

PRONUNCIATION:

JOO-lee-et

SIMPLE MEANING:

Soft-haired, youthful, daughter of Jove

Characteristics

OF JULIET

Freedom-loving

Adventurous

Adaptable

Intellectual

Easygoing

Progressive

Sensual

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Juliet

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME JULIET

Apparently Shakespeare liked the name Juliet as much as we do. He used this beautiful name again for a minor character in his 1603 play “Measure for Measure”. Juliet is the medieval version of what we might call a Baby Mama today. She’s Claudio’s baby mama meaning he and Juliet – gasp – fornicated outside of their marriage. You may not think this is any big deal, but we’re talking about the early 17th century here when such activity was against the law and so Angelo sentences Claudio to death while Juliet is sent away to prison where she’ll eventually have her baby. As a minor character, we don’t see much of her (like we do of Isabella and Mariana), but she reappears in the final scene when the Duke of Vienna announces that she and Claudio can be together. At least this Juliet got her “happily ever after”.

Juliet Capulet is half of the ill-fated couple in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, probably written between 1591 and 1595. At the play’s beginning, Juliet is a young, rather docile girl (not quite fourteen), obedient and ready to consider her parents’ choice for a suitor, yet demonstrating just a touch of reserved rebellion under the surface. After she meets and falls in love with Romeo, her every action seems to augur the woman she would have become if fate had treated her differently. Once equipped with the moral backbone that her love for Romeo gives her, there is no stopping this firebrand. She manages to defy the strictures of the generations-old feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, to declare her love for Romeo, to marry him and consummate the vows and, ultimately, to make the noblest sacrifice of all for him – her death. And no pretty poisoning death for her – she impales herself upon a dagger. All of this over the course of a few days! It is not that we would wish such a fate upon any fair maidens of thirteen of our acquaintance, but – really – could anyone you know fill the bill?

Romeo is perhaps one of the most recognized literary figures of all time. He is one of the two central figures in William Shakespeare’s 1596 tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet”. The story can best be summed up by the play’s final two lines: “For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo”. Romeo Montague is the teen-aged son of an affluent family involved in a bitter rivalry with the Capulets (Juliet’s peeps). Unfortunately for Romeo, when he lays eyes upon the fair Juliet there’s simply no turning back. The guy is seriously whipped and forgets about his crush on Rosaline in a Verona minute. He’s the typical teenager: emotional, impetuous, lovesick and overly-dramatic. Romeo evens the score for his buddy Mercutio’s death by killing Tybalt and is thus banished from Verona – and Juliet’s domineering parents arrange to have her married to Paris (not knowing she’s already eloped with Romeo). This is a recipe for disaster. Enter the benevolent Friar Laurence who attempts to help the young lovers back together again – a well-intentioned plan with tragic consequences. But then again, their fates were already written in the stars.

Tucker Crowe is the singer-songwriter in Nick Hornby’s 2009 novel, “Juliet, Naked”, who is the object of obsession for one of his fans, Duncan, and the object of scorn for Duncan’s long-term, long-suffering girlfriend, Annie. Tucker is a has-been one-time music star of the eighties, who has had many relationships, fathered several children and mysteriously “retired” at the height of his fame. His adoring fans, foremost of whom is Duncan, wait for his reappearance with bated breath. They may get that with the release of an acoustic version of his most popular album, “Julia”. Or they may not. Tucker is, when all is said and done, only a man, like roughly half of the world’s population. He eats, sleeps and suffers disappointments as regularly as any other average Joe, and puts his pants on in the same old way.

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME JULIET

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Juliet


Popular Songs

ON JULIET

Not Romeo, Not Juliet
a song by Bryan Adams

Romeo Loves Juliet
a song by Rick Astley

Romeo and Juliet
a song by Snuff

Romeo & Juliet
a song by Blue System

Juliet
a song by the Four Pennies

In The Heart of Juliet
a song by Liv Kristine

I Thought I'd Write to Juliet
a song by Elvis Costello

Crazy Juliet
a song by Sandra

Check Yes, Juliet
a song by We The Kings

Juliet of Spirits
a song by The B-52's

Just Like Romeo and Juliet
a song by the Reflections

Famous People

NAMED JULIET

Juliet Landau (actress)
Juliet Richardson (singer)
Juliet Huddy (TV news reporter)
Juliet Mills (actress)
Juliet Stevenson (actress)

Children of Famous People

NAMED JULIET

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

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME JULIET

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