Name of the Day: Julian
He’s a once-neglected classic now embraced by parents everywhere.
Thanks to Kelly for suggesting Julian as Name of the Day.
In the late 90s, a friend named her son Julian hoping for something just a little different. She knew women named Julie and Julia, but Julian seemed distinctive for a son.
As it happens, lots of parents had the same idea.
From #355 in 1968, Julian gained steadily in the 70s, 80s and 90s. He entered the US Top 100 for the first time in 2000, and now stands at #61. Julian is even more popular in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Norway, while the French Julien finds favor in the Top 100 of both Quebec and Belgium.
The truly old school – and slightly less common – appellation is Julius, the name of an important patrician family in Ancient Rome. There are three possible sources for their name:
- The Latin ioulos literally means downy-bearded and implies youth;
- The name may also relate to the god Jupiter via the term Jovilios;
- Lastly, the Julii considered themselves descendants of Julus, a legendary figure and the son of Trojan war hero Aeneas.
The best known member of the family was Gaius Julius Caesar. When he wasn’t inventing salads, Caesar expanded Rome’s territory dramatically. He remains widely acknowledged as one of history’s greatest military strategists.
More famous Romans followed, then a handful of early saints, starting with the seventh century Saint Julian of Toledo. There’s also Saint Julian the Hospitaller, an Oedipus figure who became the patron saint of innkeepers – but odds are that his story is pure fiction.
Over the years, the name has been worn by:
- UNESCO founder and founding member of the World Wildlife Fund, scientist Julian Huxley;
- Civil rights activist Julian Bond;
- Alt rock pioneer Julian Cope;
- British actor Julian Glover, known for playing some legendary bad guys;
- John Lennon’s firstborn;
- World-famous cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, brother to Broadway’s Andrew Lloyd Webber;
- Julien Temple is a British director of rock docs and music videos including 1980′s kinda-sorta story of the Sex Pistols, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle.
Fictional characters abound. Anne Rice’s series about a family of witches includes Julien Mayfair, the lone warlock in the family.
John Galsworthy revived the medieval variant Jolyon for four characters in The Forsyte Saga. One was called Jo, another Jolly. The youngest answered to Jon. If Julian is current and Julius is slightly more unusual, Jolyon is truly daring.
Julian fits right in with Sebastian, Elijah and Nathaniel – all fellow Top 100 choices. And therein lies the challenge. Many parents probably arrive at Julian hoping for something just a little different – so many, in fact, that if you’re hoping for a truly distinctive choice, you might have to keep looking.
Or not. After all, with his deep historical roots and quite current style, Julian has charm to spare – and share with others, too.
Filed under: Ancient World, Hot Names of 2010, Literary Babes, Little Ruler, Medieval Monikers, Names for Boys, Names of the Day, Saints | 15 Comments
Tags: Julia, Julian, Elijah, Julius, Sebastian, Julien, Andrew, Huxley, Nathaniel, Julie, Julus, Jolyon, Jo, Jolly, Jon
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eek. I had the craziest lunatic of a boss a few years ago called Julian. No way. Can’t even get past the bias to think if it’s a nice name or not!!
I know thre baby Julians born last year. A little common? Yep. I’m not realy a fan, though I like it heaps better than Julius.
A question: what Top Ten are Sebastian, Elijah and Nathaniel a part of? Did I miss something?
No, you didn’t miss something – you caught my mistake! It’s corrected. Thank you!
Ah, I see. Well, I wish they were in the Top Ten! What a nice Top Ten that would be! No more Jayden, hopefully…
It would make for a nice Top Ten. Maybe in 2019 …
Julian’s lovely, but both Jolyon & Julius are lovlier to me. I know three little Julians through Josie’s school. One’s in another Kindergarten class, one’s a second grader and one’s in third, with a twin named Sabrina (what a gorgeous set)! I firmly like Julian but prefer him on someone else’s boy, thank you very much.
Julius reigns supreme of the Jul- names for me. He’s a bit more distinctive sound wise and also reminds me of Groucho Marx (born Julius). I’m a HUGE fan of the Marx brothers. How awesome would he be with Leo, Simon & Josephine, too? My problem is him. He says Julius feels girly. I’m working on that, Julius or Rufus, his choice at this point!
Julian and Sabrina – that is a LOVELY set.
I’m really in love with Rufus right now.
Both Jules and Juli/Julie are nicknames for Julian, even for males.
In middle school I chose the combo Julian Francis for my future son. It remained on my list until a few years ago, when I finally decided that I couldn’t give my son a name that didn’t have nicknames that I liked. Jude is the only potential nickname that I like, and that just doesn’t feel natural to me.
Lovely combination, Panya! Jude might not be a natural nickname, but there’s some basis for the choice. The story goes that Paul McCartney wrote a song called “Hey Jules” to cheer up John Lennon’s son during his parents’ divorce. But “Hey Jules” wasn’t quite right to sing, so they changed it to “Hey Jude.”
Julian isn’t a bad name, it just does not appeal to me.It’s actually one of the names where I have bizarre connotations. I actually dislike it a lot, to me honest. Loads better than Julius. For some utterly bizarre reason, the Spanish pronunciation reminds me of Horton Hears A Who. Now, that is biazrre
However, I can understand why others like it.
I’d love to get away with it on a girl but it’s no longer the middle ages so I wouldn’t do that to my daughter. Still, I can dream.
It has a bit of a nerdy, comical and/or effeminate vibe for a boy but it doesn’t help that I associate this name with Mr Bean now thanks to a comment made by Rowan Atkinson re: the character’s possible first name.
Jolyon is much nicer although a bit ‘posh’. Still, I’d consider it for a middle.
Bewildertrix, Julianne Moore played a female Julian resistance leader in 2006′s Children of Men. (I’m pretty sure it was based on a book.) I guess dystopian sci fi that doesn’t fare terribly well at the box office isn’t enough to say “Oh, yes, of course, Julian for a girl” – but she was an appealing character.
I know, I know! That’s where I picked up my little guilty obsession
although I felt almost vindicated when I discovered Julian, Christian and other similar names were considered unisex once.
Always quite liked Julien (rather than Julian) French spelling. In fact, I love Julien Temple’s films. New one looks ace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CZMLs8Ke40