Judean
From the ancient region of Judea in Israel, indicating Jewish heritage.
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Judean. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Judean today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Judean births was 1964 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Judean. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Judean is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Judeans were born before 1966.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Judean. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1964
7 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1964 SSA rank
#5,710
Tracked since 1944
Popularity
Judean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Judean from the 1940s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Judean remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Judean by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Judean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Judean
The given name Judean has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language and culture, dating back to biblical times in the region of Judea, which was situated in the southern part of the historic Land of Israel. The name is believed to be derived from the Hebrew word "Yehudi," meaning "Jewish" or "from Judah," referring to the ancient Kingdom of Judah and its inhabitants.
Judean is closely associated with the biblical figure Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the patriarch of the Tribe of Judah. The name is mentioned multiple times in religious scriptures such as the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, reflecting its deep-rooted significance in Judeo-Christian traditions.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Judean can be found in the biblical Book of Genesis, where Judah, the son of Jacob and Leah, is introduced as a prominent figure in the narrative. The name subsequently appears in various other books of the Bible, including the Book of Ruth and the Book of Ezra.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Judean or its variants. One of the most famous was Judean the Maccabee (c. 166 BCE), a Jewish priest and military leader who led a rebellion against the Seleucid Empire, which had sought to impose its Hellenistic culture on the Jewish population in Judea.
Another prominent figure was Judean ben Saul (c. 135 CE), a Jewish sage and scholar who lived during the Roman period and is renowned for his contributions to the development of Rabbinic Judaism. He is often referred to as Rabbi Judean HaNasi, meaning "Judean the Prince."
In the medieval period, Judean ben Samuel He-Hasid (c. 1140 - 1217) was a prominent Jewish philosopher and mystic, known for his influential works on Kabbalah and ethical teachings. He was born in Toledo, Spain, and is considered one of the most significant figures in the history of Jewish mysticism.
During the Renaissance, Judean Abravanel (1437 - 1508) was a Portuguese Jewish philosopher, theologian, and financier who served as a statesman and advisor to several European monarchs, including King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.
In more recent times, Judean Hirsch Kalischer (1796 - 1874) was a prominent Jewish scholar and one of the early proponents of the Zionist movement, advocating for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Judean throughout history, reflecting its rich cultural and religious significance within the Jewish tradition and beyond.
People
Judean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Judean as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Judean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Judean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Judean going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Judean a common name?
We classify Judean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Judean most popular?
The single biggest year for Judean was 1964, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Judean is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Judean a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Judean in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.