Judith is a feminine given name derived from the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

name יְהוּדִית or ''Yehudit'', meaning "woman of

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...

". Judith appeared in the Old Testament as one of

Esau Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...

's wives, while the deuterocanonical

Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the apocrypha. It tells ...

deals with a different Judith. It is in common usage in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, many Scandinavian languages,

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, and

. In Eritrea it is called Yodit. The name was among the top 50 most popular given names for girls born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

between 1936–1956, but its popularity has since declined. It was the 893rd most popular name for baby girls born in the United States in 2012, down from 74th in 1960.Behind the Name - Popularity for Judith in the United States
/ref>

Name variants

Alternative forms of the name Judith include: *يهوديت Yahudit (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

) *Giuditta (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

) *הודעס ''Hudes'' (

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

) *Iúidit (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

) *Jitka (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

) *Jodi (

) *Jodie (

) *Jody (

) *Judeta (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

) *Judina (

) *Ιουδίθ (Iudith) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

) * Judit (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

), ( Hungarian), ( Scandinavian), (

) *Judita (

), ( Slovak), (

), ( Lithuanian), ( Slovene), ( Croatian) *Judite (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

) *Judīte ( Latvian) *Judith ( French,

) *Juditha ( French) *Judithe ( French) *Judyta (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

) *Juta (

) *Jutka (

), ( Hungarian) *Jutta (

) *Jutte (

), (

) *Juut (

) *Jytte (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

) *Iudita (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

) *יְהוּדִית Yehudit (

) *יידעל Yidel (

) *Yodit (

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

) *יודעל Yudel (

) *Юдифь Yudif’ (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

) *Иудифь Iudif’ (

) *Джудит Djudit (

) *יוטקע Yutke (

) *Ditka ( Slovene)

People

* Queen Judith (disambiguation), a number of medieval women *

Judith of Bavaria (died 843) Judith of Bavaria (797– 19 April 843) was the Carolingian empress as the second wife of Louis the Pious. Marriage to Louis marked the beginning of her rise as an influential figure in the Carolingian court. She had two children with Louis, Gis ...

, Frankish queen *

Judith of Friuli Eberhard (c. 815 – 16 December 867) was the Frankish Duke of Friuli from 846. His name is alternatively spelled Everard, Evrard, Erhard, or Eberard; in Latinized fashion, ''Everardus'', ''Eberardus'', or ''Eberhardus''. He wrote his own name ...

(fl. 881), daughter of Eberhard *

Judith of Flanders Judith of Flanders (circa 843 – circa 870) was a Carolingian princess as the daughter of Charles II, Emperor of the Romans ("Charles the Bald"), who became Queen (consort) of Wessex by two successive marriages and later Margravine (consor ...

(c. 843–c. 870), Princess of the Carolingian Franks, Queen of Wessex, Countess of Flanders *

Judith of Schweinfurt Judith of Schweinfurt ( cs, Jitka ze Schweinfurtu / in old Czech: Jitka ze Svinibrodu; before 1003 – 2 August 1058) was Duchess consort of Bohemia from 1034 until 1055, by her marriage with the Přemyslid duke Bretislav I.Herwig Wolfram, ''Conr ...

(fl. 1003–1058), wife of Bretislaus I of Bohemia *

Gudit Gudit ( gez, ጉዲት) is the Classical Ethiopic name for a personage also known as Yodit in Tigray, and Amharic, but also Isato in Amharic and Ga'wa in Ţilţal. The personage behind these various alternative names is portrayed as a power ...

(fl. 960), queen who sacked Axum, now in Ethiopia; also known as Judith or Yudit *

Zewditu I , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Zewditu ( gez, ዘውዲቱ, born Askala Maryam; 29 April 1876 – 2 April 1930) was Empress of Ethiopia from 1916 to 19 ...

(1876–1930), queen of Ethiopia whose name is sometimes erroneously Anglicised as "Judith" *

Judith Anderson Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...

, Australian-born British actress *

Judith Arcana Judith Arcana is an American writer of poems, stories, essays and books. She was a teacher for forty years and her writing has appeared in journals and anthologies since the early 1980s. She has been an activist for reproductive justice since sp ...

, American writer *

Judith Arndt Judith Arndt (born 23 July 1976) is a retired German professional sports, professional cycle sport, cyclist, who last rode for the GreenEDGE-AIS cycling team. She won the bronze medal in the Track cycling, 3000 m pursuit event at the 1996 S ...

, German cyclist *

Judith Arnold Barbara Keiler (born April 7, 1953 in New York City, United States), known more widely by her pseudonym Judith Arnold, is a best-selling American author of crime fiction and over eighty-five romance novels. She has been writing since 1983, and h ...

, pen name of Barbara Keeler, American romance novelist *

Judith Audu Judith Emike Audu-Foght, professionally known as Judith Audu, is a Nigerian film and television producer, director, casting director, actress, presenter, model and blogger. She is widely known for her movie production credits which include Ju ...

, Nigerian actress and blogger *

Judith Auer Judith Auer (née Vallentin) (19 September 1905 – 27 October 1944) was a resistance fighter against the Nazi régime in Germany. Early life Auer was born in Zürich. Her father was the communist writer, Erich Vallentin.Judith Babirye, Ugandan gospel musician *

Judith Barsi Judith Eva Barsi (June 6, 1978 – July 25, 1988) was an American child actress. She began her career in television, making appearances in commercials and television series, as well as the 1987 film '' Jaws: The Revenge''. She also provided the ...

, American actress *

Judith Baxter Judith Baxter (1955 – 24 February 2018) was a British sociolinguist and Professor of Applied linguistics at Aston University where she specialised in Gender and Language, and Leadership Language. She served in editorial positions with several ...

, British sociolinguist * Judith Berry (born 1961), Canadian painter *

Judith Binney Dame Judith Mary Caroline Binney (née Musgrove, 1 July 1940 – 15 February 2011) was a New Zealand historian, writer and Emerita Professor of History at the University of Auckland. Her work focussed on religion in New Zealand, especially ...

, New Zealand historian *

Judith Black Judith Black is an American professional storyteller, who has toured internationally, telling stories to a wide ranging audience in the United States, Europe, and the Near East. She has produced thirteen CDs, and won a variety of awards, such a ...

, American storyteller *

Judith Blau Judith Blau (born April 27, 1942) is an American sociologist and professor emerita of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Most of her academic career has been devoted to teaching and writing about human rights, and she retired to Wel ...

, American sociologist *

Judith Blegen Judith Blegen (April 27, 1943, Lexington, Kentucky) is an American soprano, particularly associated with light lyric roles of the French, Italian and German repertories. Life and career Blegen was raised and attended high school in Missoula, Monta ...

, American operatic soprano *

Judith Ten Bosch Judith Maria Ten Bosch (born 26 April 1957, Dordrecht) is a Dutch people, Dutch painter and illustrator. Biography Ten Bosch was born in 1957, and is one of a twins of Lou Ten Bosch and Ank Stumpel. She has four other siblings. Between 1976 ...

, Dutch painter and illustrator * Judith Burganger (born 1939), American pianist *

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...

, American gender theorist *

Judith Alice Clark Judith Alice Clark (born November 23, 1949) is an American activist, Conviction, convicted Felony, felon, and former member of the Weather Underground. Clark was an armed getaway driver in the Brink's robbery (1981), Brink's robbery of 1981 in N ...

, American antiwar activist and convicted murderer * Judith Clute (born 1942), Canadian painter, graphic designer, print-maker, and illustrator *

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

(born Judith Marjorie Collins), American singer/songwriter *

Dame Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

(born Judith Olivia Dench), English actress and author *

Judith Durham Judith Durham (born Judith Mavis Cock; 3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian folk music group the Seekers in 1963. The group became the first Australian p ...

, Australian singer *

Judy Finnigan Judith Adele Finnigan (born 16 May 1948) is an English television presenter and writer. She co-presented ITV's '' This Morning'' (1988–2001, 2019–) and the Channel 4 chat show, ''Richard & Judy'' (2001–2008) alongside her husband Richard ...

(born 1939), English television presenter, author, columnist *

Judith Forrai Judith Forrai (born 27 January 1949) is a Hungarian historian of science, medical historian, dentist, professor, doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and editor-in-chief of ''Kaleidoscope'', a cultural, scientific and medical history jou ...

(born 1949), Hungarian historian of science, medical historian, dentist, professor, journal editor-in-chief *

Judith R. Goodstein Judith Ronnie Goodstein (née Koral, born 1939) is an American historian of science, historian of mathematics, archivist, and book author. She worked for many years at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she is University Archi ...

(born 1939), American historian of science *

Judith Hamilton Judith Hamilton is known for her community theatre work in Dryden, Ontario, Canada. A member and part of the management team of the community theatre group Theatre 17, she is credited with reviving and leading the theatre, and has directed many of ...

, Canadian theatre director * Judith Hand, American biologist *

Judith Holofernes Judith Holfelder-Roy (''née'' Holfelder-von der Tann; born 12 November 1976), known by her stage name Judith Holofernes, is a German singer, guitarist, songwriter and author. She was the lead singer of Wir sind Helden, the German pop rock band ...

(born 1976), German singer-songwriter * Judith Ann Carter Horton (1866–1948), African American educator and librarian *

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and ''Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several films ...

, American actress and theatre director *

Judith Jones Judith Jones (née Bailey; March 10, 1924 – August 2, 2017) was an American writer and editor, best known for having rescued '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' from the reject pile. Jones also championed Julia Child's ''Mastering the Art of French ...

, American writer and editor *

Judith Keppel Judith Cynthia Aline Keppel (born 18 August 1942) is a British quiz show contestant who was the first person to win one million pounds on the British television game show ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''. She has appeared on the former BBC Two ...

, first one-million-pound winner on the television game show ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' in the United Kingdom *

Judith Kerr Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr (surname pronounced ; 14 June 1923 – 22 May 2019) was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world.

(1923–2019), German-born British writer and illustrator *

Judith Krantz Judith Krantz (née Tarcher; January 9, 1928 – June 22, 2019) was a magazine writer and fashion editor who turned to fiction as she approached the age of 50. Her first novel ''Scruples'' (1978) quickly became a ''The New York Times Best Seller ...

(1928–2019), American author and journalist * Judith T. Lessler, American statistician and organic farmer * Judith Liberman (born 1978), French fairy tale narrator *

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera ...

, American actress *

Judith Lowry Judith Carter Lowry (née Ives; July 27, 1890 – November 29, 1976) was an American actress. She had nearly 30 film and television roles and appeared on stage, most notably in the Off-Broadway production of ''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in ...

, American actress *

Judith Lucy Judith Mary Lucy (born 25 March 1968) is an Australian comedian and actress, known primarily for her stand-up comedy. Lucy joined the team of the ABC's ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' in 2019. Early life Lucy's adoptive parents emigrat ...

, Australian comedian * Judith Macgregor, British diplomat * Judith Maro, Ukrainian-born Welsh-language writer *

Judith Ann Mayotte Judith Ann Mayotte (born January 25, 1937) is an American humanitarian, author, theologian, producer, former Catholic religious sister, ethicist, and university professor. Early life She was born Judith Ann Moberly in Wichita, Kansas, where s ...

, American Roman Catholic theologian and humanitarian * Judith McKenna (born 1966/1967), British businesswoman *

Judith Miller Judith Miller (born January 2, 1948) is an American journalist and commentator known for her coverage of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion, which was later discovered to have been based on ...

, American journalist and writer *

Judith Miller (antiques expert) Judith Henderson Miller (née Cairns; 16 September 1951 – 8 April 2023) was a Scottish antiques expert, writer, and broadcaster. Early career Born Judith Henderson Cairns in Galashiels, Scotland, Miller first began collecting antiques while ...

, British antiques expert * Judith Neelley (born 1964), American serial killer *

Judith Rakers Judith Deborah Rakers (born 6 January 1976) is a German journalist and television presenter. Biography Rakers was born in Paderborn, West Germany, and grew up in Bad Lippspringe with her single father. After graduating at Pelizaeus-Gymna ...

, German journalist and television presenter *

Judy Sheindlin Judith Susan Sheindlin (''née'' Blum; born October 21, 1942), known professionally as Judge Judy, is an American court show arbitrator, media personality, television producer, author, women's advancement philanthropist and former prosecutor an ...

, judge and host of reality TV show ''

Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judy Sheindlin, Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudi ...

'' * Judith E. Stein, American art historian and curator * Judith Stein (historian), American historian *

Judith Tyberg Judith Tyberg (1902–1980) was an American yogi ("Jyotipriya") and a renowned Sanskrit scholar and Oriental studies, orientalist. Author of ''The Language of the Gods'' and two other texts on Sanskrit, she was the founder and guiding spirit of the ...

, American Sanskrit scholar *

Judith Zaffirini Judith Pappas Zaffirini (born February 13, 1946) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Texas State Senate from the 21st District, which includes her home city of Laredo in south Texas. On January 9, 2007, Zaffirini b ...

, American politician * Judith, heroine of the ''

'', one of the books included in the

Biblical apocrypha The biblical apocrypha (from the grc, ἀπόκρυφος, translit=apókruphos, lit=hidden) denotes the collection of apocryphal ancient books thought to have been written some time between 200 BC and AD 400. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Ort ...

Fictional characters

* Judith Iscariot, in the film ''

Monty Python's Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It wa ...

'' *

Judith Myers (Halloween) This is a list of characters that appear in ''Halloween'' horror film franchise. Cast and characters *Note: '' Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' is not connected in continuity to any of the other films. Continuity A (1978–1995) Cont ...

, eldest sister of Michael Myers in the 1978 movie ''Halloween'' *

Judy Hopps The following is a list of characters from the Disney media franchise of ''Zootopia'', which consists of the animated film ''Zootopia'' (2016), the streaming television series '' Zootopia+'' (2022), and other media appearances. All the character ...

, the rabbit protagonist of Disney's 2016 animated film ''Zootopia'' * Judith Mossman (''Half Life'') * Judith, in the 2008 video game ''

Tales of Vesperia is an action role-playing game developed by Namco Tales Studio. The tenth mainline entry in the '' Tales'' series, it was released for the Xbox 360 and published in Japan and North America by Namco Bandai Games in 2008, and in European territori ...

'' * Judith Grimes, in the TV show and comic '' The Walking Dead'' * Judith, the Scourge Diva, a minor character in the popular trading card game ''

Magic: the Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' * Judith Dinsmore, a recurring character in the web series ''

The Most Popular Girls in School ''The Most Popular Girls in School'' (abbreviated ''MPGIS'') is an American adult stop-motion animation, animated comedy web series that debuted on YouTube on May 1, 2012. Created by Mark Cope and Carlo Moss, the series animates Barbie, Ken (dol ...

''.

Notes

{{given name Feminine given names Hebrew-language names English feminine given names French feminine given names Hebrew feminine given names German feminine given names Dutch feminine given names Norwegian feminine given names Swedish feminine given names Danish feminine given names Icelandic feminine given names fr:Judith#Sens et origine du nom

Name variants

People

Fictional characters

See also

Notes