She’s a doomed romantic teenager, an eternal reminder that teenagers fall in love hard.
Thanks to Melissa for suggesting Juliet as Name of the Day.
Americans – and most English speakers – tend to favor diminutives formed by shortening a name. William becomes Bill and Caroline answers to Carrie. But in many other languages, the pet form is longer than the original. So it is with Juliet. In the Italian, Giulia becomes Guilietta. In the French, Julie transforms to Juliette.
Bill Shakespeare borrowed the names and plot of his enduring tragedy from poet Arthur Brooke, whose 1562 The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet is largely forgotten. Brooke, in turn, owed his inspiration to Italian writer Matteo Bandello, though Bandello may have simply been assembling traditional stories and Shakespeare was reading translations into English from French translations of the original, rather than Bandello’s Italian collection.
In any case, Giulietta had been streamlined to Juliet early in the story-telling, and despite the diminutive form, there’s no indication in the play that her name is anything other. She is, of course, the daughter of the Capulets, a wealthy heiress about to be wed to a suitable suitor. Romeo gate-crashes the Capulet’s ball, and well, you know the rest.
Romeo’s name was long considered much too much for parents to give to a son, but there’s been a steady willingness to use Juliet for generations. Her 2008 ranking of #451 isn’t her peak – that was #442 in 1886 – and she appeared in the Top 1000 right through the 1970s.
Add in Juliette, currently ranked at #549 and the name is more common than you might think.
Juliette is a Top Ten pick in Quebec and a Top 50 choice in Belgium. The two spellings combined could be nearly as successful in the US.
Just like her beloved, Juliet owes much of her popularity to the 1996 Baz Lurhman reboot of Romeo + Juliet. She’d fallen out of use until the year of the movie’s release, when she resurfaced at #825.
It isn’t just the silver screen encouraging parents to consider the lovely Juliet. It’s also that stylish -et ending, shared by:
- The Irish Bridget;
- Botanical Violet;
- The colorful Scarlet.
A handful of pop culture references continue to boost Juliet. Television characters on Lost and Psych wear the name. Recording artists from Stevie Nicks to LMNT have recorded singles called “Juliet.” Taylor Swift’s 2008 hit single “Love Story” gives the ill-fated lovers a happy ending.
There’s also the popularity of Julian, currently a Top 100 pick for boys and the rise of many a French nom for jeune filles.
Real life Juliets can be found, too, from FOX News’ Juliet Huddy to French actress Juliette Binoche. Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low is one of the best known Juliettes. She was named after her grandmother, Juliette Magill Kinzie, an early nineteenth century writer.
While some literary choices feel like a lot of name, Juliet can wear Julie or Jules as easily as Julia, Julianne or any of the formal versions might. Doubtless that’s part of her appeal.
Overall, Juliet and Juliette make for names that are just a little bit different – not quite the classic Julia, but not too unusual either.
Kristin says
June 21, 2012 at 11:27 AMThank you so much for fixing this! We’re currently trying for #3, and (of course!) I’m already thinking of names. The husband actually likes Juliet, and I definitely see its appeal. My concern is that it is too tied to the play, and maybe a bit much with my other kids, Caleb and Annabel? There are about 58 other names for a girl in consideration. 🙂
saradconley says
March 9, 2010 at 1:15 PMI love Juliet. Can I use Juliet for a girl when my son’s name is Titus? Or is that too much of a reference to Julius Caesar and Titus – both Roman emperors? Opinions please…
appellationmountain says
March 9, 2010 at 3:23 PMHmmm … I don’t think anyone would make the Roman emperor connection, but my brain thought Shakespeare immediately – R+J, plus Titus Adronicus. Then again, I’m not sure that would be a very common association, either. And Titus and Juliet sound like sibs.
saradconley says
March 10, 2010 at 1:17 PMThanks for your thoughts!
Bewildertrix says
March 5, 2010 at 3:23 PMMeh. I think I prefer the more formal Julie. I usually adore -et names, but not this one.
I don’t like the immediate Shakespeare reference. It was one work I never enjoyed. Overly impetuous kids who meet a nasty end – couldn’t get into it. Still, I like Ophelia and that’s hardly baggage free. I’m a hypocrite :/
English Kate says
March 5, 2010 at 7:57 AMJuliet is sort of an unsung hero in the naming world isn’t she? She would make a beautifully unexpected and refreshing choice in the current naming climate. Off point: Ava has recently exploded on the scene here in England, she’s been incubating here for a while but seems to have taken a lot longer to reach the dizzy heights that she reached state-side some time ago. I was just wondering if anyone had any insight as to why that might be, since, it usually works the other way around…
Back to Juliet, it’s definitely the only Jul- name I like, the others sound a little dated somehow. I’ve heard Julia mentioned here and on other naming blogs as a current choice in the US which seems strange to my English ear. I wonder why Julia hasn’t experienced that same rise in popularity over here, does anyone know? (Apologies for all the questions, I’m in a
Eva says
March 4, 2010 at 10:21 PMJuliet is incredibly pretty! It’s the only Jul name that I like for girls. I don’t like Julia at all, even though I have two great friends with the name. I prefer the spelling Juliet. The two t’s look harsh. Juliet also sounds stunning as a middle name, especially with a 2 syllable first name. I like Clara Juliet & Ruby Juliet. Scarlet & Juliet sound great for sisters, in my opinion.
Lady Gwyn says
March 4, 2010 at 5:50 PMI like Juliet and Julian..wouldn’t use them together, obviously! I like Shakespeare names, though, and have Cordelia and Portia in my Top Ten, so I would obviously don’t have problems with the connection. Claire, I sort of pronounce it diffently as Zhou-LEE-et, which makes it seem more Italian, I guess. I blame my HS drama teacher for that pronunciation , because that is how she pronounced it.
Claire says
March 4, 2010 at 2:25 PMI can’t really go for Juliet because it feels like I should put emphasis on the last syllable: Juli-ET and that seems awkward. To much effort. Without that emphasis it sounds like JUli-it which is not too pretty at all. I like most other Ju- names. Especially Julian for a boy. But Juliet can be for someone else.
Julie says
March 4, 2010 at 1:35 PMAs a Julie I’ve sometimes had to endure off-tune renditions of Bobby Sherman’s “Julie, Do Ya Love Me.” But that would be nothing compared to dealing with “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun” and “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” ad nauseam. As long as they teach “Romeo and Juliet” in middle school*, I’d stick to Julia, Julitta or Jillian. There’s just to much drama attached to some names.
Juliet does make a lovely middle name.
*I’m not saying they should stop teaching it.
Juliette says
July 9, 2011 at 6:43 AMI’m called Juliette and I’ve studied Romeo + Juliet in class. Yes, you do get occasional comments. But it doesn’t bother you.
Natalie says
March 4, 2010 at 1:25 PMI adore the name Juliet, she has long been on my favourites list. I prefer the spelling Juliet as I am not a big fan of adding in superfluous letters.
I think this name would be easy to wear today and is one of the more realisitc choices from my list.
Joy says
March 4, 2010 at 12:57 PMI know an adorable toddler named Juliet, so this name is very positive to me. Julianne reminds me of the country artist Julianne Hough who got her start on Dancing With The Stars.
Kelleita says
March 4, 2010 at 12:06 PMGotta chime in on this one — our daughter is named Juliette and I love it. My husband suggested it, and at first I wasn’t totally sold, but now that she’s had the name for over a year, I’m in love with it. We get tons of compliments on her name. She doesn’t go by Julie or Jules or anything, just Juliette and occasionally (in keeping with how some languages make names longer when giving them nicknames) we call her Juliettita because my husband speak Spanish with her, and in Spanish you add “ita” as a diminutive to names to connote affection.
FWIW — I don’t like any of the other Jul- names — Julianna, Julie, Julia… they just don’t do it for me.
JNE says
March 4, 2010 at 10:19 AMJuliet is nice enough, but it’s not for me. Like the other Jul- names for girls, it just doesn’t excite me. My one year old niece is a Julia and I think I slightly prefer that to Juliet. Julia/Julian are family names for me, in fact my grandfather was Julian and his little sister was Julia – the insanity of wasting a naming opportunity – even if you’re honoring – honor someone else! (To that point, my grandpa switched his fn and mn fairly young and is now Glen, which I like very much as a name.) Generally I like Jul- names for boys more than for girls – both Julian and Julius (as well as Glen – it’s one of the only honorifics I’d consider) made my longer list for the boy baby (the OH vetoed all three, but found Julius least objectionable).
UrbanAngel says
March 4, 2010 at 10:03 AMI can’t believe the popularity or lack of popularity of this name in the US. I get how its a little bit different due to popularity, but this name has always been a very normal name to me. On YA, it seems like most favour it as a middle name – I myself have Carys Juliette on my list somewhere. It seems to fit in well with many names
I have a weird relationship with the name. I always really liked it & then I used it as my screen name for a lot of sites-including this one , and I fell a little bit out of love with it. As a name, I do think it’s beautiful & elegant. Juliette is more princessy & feminine than Juliet which is more simplistic & sophisticated
I like Juliette, but not anywhere near enough to consider using as a first name, though I do feel happy with it as a middle. It’s odd as I like Juliet/Juliette,but Julia & Julian/Julien rub me the wrong way. Overall, it’s very pretty name that’s under-appreciated, though I doubt I’d use it & if I did – solely in the MN spot
photoquilty says
March 4, 2010 at 8:33 AMEasily one of my all-time favorite names. My only hesitation in putting it on my list is the comparison to longtime popular Julie, which I find to be boring. Juliet, though, is always lovely.