Julieta

Julieta is the Portuguese and Spanish form of the English Juliet or the Italian Giulietta. William Shakespeare is credited with using Juliet for the first time in his well-known tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” (1596). All forms of this name ultimately 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 was synonymous with a sense of “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 Roman name for their supreme god Jupiter who presided over the Roman laws and social order. The most famous name bearer dating back to the Classical Era was Julius Caesar, a great Roman general and statesman who notably conquered the Gauls which lead to great expansion of the Roman Empire throughout continental Europe. Due to Caesar’s 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. by a few jealous Senators who feared his monopoly on power, Julius Caesar’s legacy would not be forgotten. All of the names which spawned from Julius (Julieta included) are collectively among the most popular and most enduring names of all time. The Spanish and Portuguese Julieta is particularly popular in Latin America, especially in the countries of Argentina, Brazil and Chile.