The name Judith is a feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name יְהוּדִית (Yehudit), which means "Jewish woman" or "woman from Judea". It is derived from the Hebrew word Yehudah, meaning "Judah" or "Jew".

The name Judith has its origins in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is the name of the heroine of the Book of Judith, an apocryphal book that tells the story of a beautiful widow who saves her city of Bethulia from the Assyrian army by beheading the enemy general Holofernes.

The earliest recorded use of the name Judith dates back to the 5th century BC, when it appears in the Book of Judith. It was a popular name among Jewish communities in ancient times and later spread to other cultures through the influence of Christianity.

One of the earliest and most famous bearers of the name Judith was Judith of Bavaria (805-843 AD), a Carolingian noblewoman and the wife of Louis the Pious, King of the Franks. Another notable historical figure named Judith was Judith of Flanders (c. 1032-1094), a Countess of Flanders and mother of Matilda of Scotland.

In the 12th century, Judith of Thuringia (c. 1103-1168) was a Duchess of Bavaria and a prominent figure in the Crusades. During the Renaissance, Judith Arundell (1614-1654) was an English Catholic martyr who was executed for her faith.

Another famous bearer of the name was Judith Leyster (1609-1660), a Dutch Golden Age painter who achieved considerable success as an artist, a rarity for women at that time.