Jude

Jude meaning

Jude is an international and Christian boy's name of Hebrew origin (via Greek).

From Judah: "celebrated" (Strong's), "probably praised" (NAS)

Jude is the English form used for the apostle Judas, son of James, who is traditionally taken as the writer of the short Epistle of Jude; the separate form keeps him distinct from Judas Iscariot. The name goes back through Greek Ioudas to Hebrew Yehudah, Judah, the son of Jacob and Leah, at whose birth Leah says she will praise the Lord. Strong's glosses the name 'celebrated' and the NAS concordance 'probably praised', though Brown-Driver-Briggs calls the derivation uncertain. St Jude is widely honoured as the patron of hopeless causes. The name is one short syllable, said JOOD.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, H3063 · entry Yehudah · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's H3063, Yehudah (with BDB and NAS entries) · Strong's G2455, Ioudas (with Thayer's entry) · Genesis 29:35 · Wikipedia, Jude the Apostle

Famous namesakes

• St Jude, one of the twelve apostles
• Jude Law, English actor

Popularity abroad

• #155 United States, boys 2025 (up 1 from 156 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #14 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Related names

More names of Hebrew origin

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