Judah

How to say it

/ˈdʒu.də/

What it means

Hebrew Yehudah, 'praised.' Fourth son of Jacob and Leah, ancestor of the tribe of Judah and (through that line) of David and Jesus. The 'Lion of Judah' is one of the tribe's emblems.

Judah comes from the Hebrew Yehudah ('praised'). In Genesis Judah is the fourth son of Jacob and Leah; the tribe of Judah became the dominant Israelite tribe in the south, and King David's line is the line of Judah. The 'Lion of Judah' (an emblem of the tribe in Genesis 49:9) became the symbol of the Davidic monarchy and, by extension, of the messianic line — picked up in Revelation as a title for Christ. The word 'Jew' descends from Judah through Judea. The English Judah is the form reserved for the biblical patriarch and the lion (Judas is reserved for the apostle who betrayed Jesus). It surged with the broader Old Testament revival in the 2010s. Common short: Jude (which is its own name).

Heads-up notes

• Spelling

  Judah is used in English for the patriarch and the tribe; Judas is reserved for the apostle who betrayed Jesus. The two are the same Hebrew name. Jude is a third English form for the apostle Judas Thaddeus.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Judah (Bible) Fourth son of Jacob, ancestor of the dominant Israelite tribe and the Davidic line
• Judah Maccabee 2nd-century-BC Jewish revolt leader against the Seleucid Empire, the Hanukkah story

Spelling variants

• Yehudah
• Judas

Names with the same feeling

• Jude Praised
• Asher Happy, blessed
• Ezra Help, helper
• Isaac He will laugh
• Noah Rest, comfort

See Judah from another angle