Julian Name Meaning

Ancient roots and a joyous meaning give Julian a solid foundation of support among parents. A name derived from Julianus, Julian means “young at heart.” While his meaning is boyish, Julian is fit for a man, working well in a variety of fields. A name seen around the world, he’s been saints, emperors, scientists, and more in history.

While the name has been a lowkey love of parents for years, he’s seen an uptick in use since the early 2000s. One could attribute this to his appearance in popular television sitcoms, but one could also point to his popularity in celebrity baby name circles where he’s been popping up left and right.

Soft in sound, he fits in well with today’s Liam and Noah, but his ancient ties also work with Leo and Alexander. He has a strong and sleek facade thanks to his association with the similar Julius, but also has a certain romantic feel at his core. He’s a bit of a chameleon name in that he’s charming on an adult but also precious on a child.

The name can also be spelled Julien and comes with the adorable nickname of Jules. Female variants of the name include Juliana, Jillian, and Julianne. A few names similar in style are Gabriel, Elias, and Roman.

Infographic of Julian name meaning, which is A form of Julianus, Julian is a Latin name meaning young at heart.
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Julian Name Popularity

How popular is the name Julian? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 222 72 0.0204%
1911 204 100 0.0269%
1912 194 257 0.051%
1913 188 325 0.0573%
1914 197 395 0.0567%
1915 193 544 0.0599%
1916 185 595 0.0616%
1917 183 627 0.0627%
1918 181 698 0.065%
1919 185 654 0.0625%
1920 194 660 0.0594%
1921 183 729 0.0637%
1922 181 748 0.0671%
1923 197 659 0.0588%
1924 195 694 0.0598%
1925 194 684 0.0605%
1926 200 674 0.0613%
1927 212 592 0.0535%
1928 213 598 0.0559%
1929 219 547 0.0528%
1930 218 566 0.0542%
1931 231 470 0.0476%
1932 219 524 0.053%
1933 244 418 0.0449%
1934 252 420 0.0434%
1935 234 468 0.0482%
1936 252 403 0.0418%
1937 258 389 0.0395%
1938 263 392 0.0383%
1939 251 417 0.041%
1940 238 475 0.0447%
1941 252 455 0.0404%
1942 252 499 0.0395%
1943 249 536 0.0411%
1944 283 409 0.033%
1945 283 411 0.0337%
1946 283 483 0.0327%
1947 294 510 0.0306%
1948 298 498 0.0312%
1949 295 480 0.0298%
1950 302 467 0.029%
1951 318 443 0.0261%
1952 312 488 0.028%
1953 314 483 0.0273%
1954 321 466 0.0255%
1955 340 426 0.0232%
1956 347 415 0.022%
1957 347 435 0.0226%
1958 357 426 0.0225%
1959 369 418 0.022%
1960 361 443 0.0234%
1961 347 480 0.0254%
1962 368 438 0.0239%
1963 359 438 0.0244%
1964 346 480 0.0273%
1965 353 427 0.0261%
1966 352 414 0.0265%
1967 360 397 0.0262%
1968 357 434 0.0289%
1969 343 488 0.0317%
1970 313 588 0.0369%
1971 306 600 0.0399%
1972 297 586 0.043%
1973 264 698 0.0538%
1974 282 620 0.0477%
1975 265 704 0.0548%
1976 268 696 0.054%
1977 265 717 0.0532%
1978 294 611 0.0454%
1979 300 629 0.0446%
1980 279 720 0.0492%
1981 253 833 0.0567%
1982 233 972 0.065%
1983 240 898 0.0609%
1984 237 907 0.061%
1985 176 1,500 0.0988%
1986 173 1,516 0.1004%
1987 185 1,446 0.0948%
1988 167 1,651 0.1059%
1989 138 2,196 0.1361%
1990 123 2,683 0.1619%
1991 122 2,676 0.1642%
1992 135 2,527 0.1583%
1993 137 2,464 0.158%
1994 140 2,479 0.1615%
1995 133 2,682 0.178%
1996 129 2,833 0.1892%
1997 131 2,892 0.1955%
1998 124 3,038 0.203%
1999 112 3,191 0.2131%
2000 87 4,579 0.2997%
2001 82 4,936 0.3276%
2002 78 5,216 0.3481%
2003 77 5,405 0.3553%
2004 74 5,664 0.3716%
2005 74 6,105 0.3993%
2006 65 6,792 0.4338%
2007 66 6,776 0.4295%
2008 61 7,452 0.4821%
2009 62 7,375 0.4934%
2010 53 7,576 0.5257%
2011 49 7,616 0.5346%
2012 53 7,369 0.5171%
2013 47 7,505 0.5271%
2014 47 7,665 0.5261%
2015 45 8,036 0.5523%
2016 39 8,365 0.5802%
2017 36 8,393 0.6013%
2018 36 8,297 0.6039%
2019 31 8,391 0.6198%
2020 33 7,421 0.583%
2021 33 7,620 0.6234%
2022 35 7,194 0.5453%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Julian

If you like Julian, you’ll love these other names like Julian.

What names are diminutives of Julian?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Julian sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Julian, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Jules

A variant form of Julius.

French

July

Month of July

English, Latin

What names are variants of Julian?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Julian.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Jolyon

Latin

Juliano

Jove's child

Greek

Julianus

Jove's child

Greek

Julien

Jove's child

Greek

Julio

Jove's child

Greek

Julius

Youthful and downy

Greek

Julyan

Jove's child

Greek

What names sound like Julian?

If you like how Julian sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Julian.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Adrian

From Hadria

Latin

Caspian

White

English

Darian

He who possesses

English

Dorian

Descendant of Dorus; from Doris

Greek

Fabian

Bean farmer

Latin

Florian

Flower

Slavic

Juneau

Young

Latin

Junior

The younger one

Latin

Junius

Young

Latin

Juno

Goddess of Marriage & Childbirth

Latin

Lucian

Light

Latin

What names are similar to Julian?

Find a name that’s like Julian, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Damian

To tame

Greek

Daniel

God is My Judge

Hebrew

Dashiell

Unknown

English

Gabriel

God is my strength

Hebrew

Henry

Home ruler

English

Miles

Soldier

Latin

Sebastian

Venerable or honorable

Greek

Silas

Man of the forest

Latin

Vincent

Conquer

Latin

Xavier

New house

Spanish

Lists With Julian

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Julian.

Siblings of Julian

Mamas with kids named Julian also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Gabriel

God is my strength

Hebrew

Alec

Form of Alexander

Scottish

Jolie

Pretty

French

Serenity

Calmness

English

Briana

High, noble, exalted

Irish

Damian

To tame

Greek

Emilia

To rival

Latin

Catalina

Pure

Spanish

32 Comments

  1. I thought “Julian” sounds sweet and kind. It also isn’t too popular. It was one of the only boy names I really liked and just felt right!

    Reply

  2. It was a Hispanic name and a family name

    Reply

  3. I’ve always had the name Juliana picked out for a girl so when I found out I was having a boy I just shortened it to Julian. It is a combination of my grandmas (Angelica), mom (Juana) and I’s name (Loren).

    Reply

  4. My husband and I chose Julian because it means youthful. I want our son to always have that younger side and never feel too old for anything because life can be too short.

    Reply

  5. My maiden name is Julian. We were married in 1970 and no one dared keep their maiden name after they were married. My dad had two sisters so he carried on the Julian name as did my only brother. But he had two daughters so it stopped with our family with him. I have a now 14 year old grandson who is carrying Julian as his middle name. That makes me proud. I’ve always been told my great grandparents came from Cornwall England.

    Reply

  6. It can be used in English and Spanish

    Reply

  7. Named our daughter Julian McCain. I liked its flow.
    We call her Juju. Have yet to meet another female Julian, so I liked that it’s not been overused like so many other girl names.

    Reply

  8. My husband and I wanted a Spanish name to go with a Spanish last name. We wanted a name that no one in our family, or close friends, had. We wanted a name that wasn’t easy to make a nickname out of. And we wanted a name that could be pronounced and sounded good both in English and Spanish. So one day we were listening to music and a singer by the name “Julion” came up and my husband suggested it, but I didn’t really go flow right, so I suggested “Julian”, which was perfect because it met all the requirements and there are several very important women in my life ( my mother’s middle name, my grandmother, my babysitter who, when she found out I was pregnant, would bring me food almost every day) whose name is “Julia” and “Julian” honers them. Also, it starts with a “J” like my husband, and rhymes with my brother’s name. So it was a perfect name for our baby.

    Reply

  9. I just liked it

    Reply

  10. We both liked the first name from a short list of male names. We carried on dad’s name for the middle & last names.

    Reply

  11. My grandma’s name was Julia, she passed about 3 years ago and it’s a tradition in Russian Jewish culture to honor relatives who have passed on by using their name ?

    Reply

  12. We like the history of Julius Caesar!

    Reply

  14. For my first son Avory me and his dad didn’t have a name picked out just yet and when I had him I looked down and said iam going to call him Avory just thought the name suited him very well and until this day it still dose he is a silly boy with a sweet heart

    My second son lium iam not sure how he got his name his dad picked it out way before he ever arrived he said you got to name Avory I get to name this one and he said I like the name Lium and I was like let’s see what he looks like first cause if he dosent look like a lium there’s know way thats going to be his name period and when i had him the doctor layed him on my tummy and and asked have yall picked out a name for him yet? And his dad shouts out lium and looks at me for conformation and said yeah he looks like a lium the name suites him well he is a mixture of naughty and nice

    My 3rd son Julian before he was born me and my family must have went through a dozen names on what to call him first zaden then Zane then Zane-in never came to a agreement on what to ca him so when the time came to name him my sister looks at me and says why don’t we call him Julian or Julius and I said I like those names alot can’t decide witch one I like more so she pulled out a quarter and looks at me and tells me heads Julian tells Julius and the coin landed on heads and now he 3months old and I call him my little squickers

    Reply

  15. My husbands name is Julio, so this was close to his.

    It’s versatile. I come from a white family so he is “Jewel-lee-in” while my husbands family pronounces it “Who-lee-on”.

    His middle name Is Michael after my father who recently passed away (Alan Michael)

    Reply

  16. Julian is a good bilingual name.

    Reply

  17. My husband and I love the name Julian, we thought it was a strong name without being too much. We also enjoyed that it can be said in both English and Spanish.

    Reply

  18. My maternal grandmother’s name is Julianne. I had this strange, totally uninformed, feeling like our little one was going to be a girl. My husband’s maternal grandmother’s name was Bernice. We are (were) very close to our grandmothers, both women who helped raise us and inspire our lifelong passions, and so our top choice for a girl name was Julianne Bernice. When we found out it was a boy we had no names picked out and started from scratch! Over time we realized that we loved the special connection with our grandmothers so much and adapted the name to a boy’s name – Julian Bernard. We call him JB (or JB-baby) for short. His great-grandma Juls couldn’t wait to meet him 🙂

    Reply

  19. A name my husband picked and we decided in the hospital. We think the nick name Jules is cute! And when he came out I looked at him and knew he was a Julian!

    Reply

  20. My husband’s name is Joseph and he’s the 4th. Our first son is Jospeh the 5th but we call him by his middle name Nolan. Julian is a nice blend of the two, and a J name that actually hadn’t been used yet in our circle. Julian’s middle name is Nicola which is Italian for Nicolas. My boys are Italian and have initials JNC. Nicola was also the middle name of his great grandmother’s father.

    Reply

  21. We choose Julian because we were looking for names that work well in English and Spanish, are ethnically ambiguos, are not too common but not highly unique, and don’t have negative connotations and associations. And, of course, names that we both liked.

    Reply

  22. When my husband and I were dating, he told me that if we were to have a son, his name would be Julian David. He had that name planned since he was younger because he liked it so much. I always liked the name David so putting Julian in front sounded great for a boy. It’s my son’s name and it fits him well. Everyone that meets him says it’s such a strong fitting name for a strong boy. It’s also my father in laws name and we get along well. So it’s a special family name.

    Reply

  23. I named him after my late sister Julia

    Reply

  24. Julian was pick because we love the name.

    Reply

  25. So my whole pregnancy me and hubby could not find a name that we both liked or agreed on, family gave us ideas, and if I liked the name, he didn’t, fast forward to the hospital, we still couldn’t agree on a name, the name I liked he didn’t, or he seemed to but let his mom influence his thoughts and how we came up with Julian Lucas, lucas was the name I wanted but I told him I would just let it be a middle name but that I was gonna pick one or the other, he is Mexican so they said Lucas didn’t sound good in Spanish ?, but o well he’s here and if I want to change his name I kno I can, still don’t think he looks like a Julian tho.

    Reply

  26. My fianc? and I both felt it was perfect for him!

    Reply

  27. Only name my husband and I agreed on, and it is where were were married.

    Reply

  28. My husband and I were prepared with a few favorite girl names even from my first pregnancy (girl), we considered a few boy names but we weren’t sure. When we found out we will have a boy ( at 16 weeks), all of a sudden, the names we considered weren’t good enough. We stopped thinking about it for a week then, one evening, while drinking tea, I opened a random boy-names list on the internet. My husband and I were laughing over some names, arguing over others and all of a sudden, as we came upon “Julian”, it clicked , we both loved it!
    I love this name because it’s light and so musical, it sounds beautiful to me. Both, my husband and I have European background (Italian-Moldovan) so it feels that we touched that subject as well with this name.
    Our daughter Evangelina, who was just learning to talk while I was pregnant with Julian, kept calling him “Juny” so… this is his nickname now! 🙂

    Reply

  29. I love the name. It’s also the name of a great Christian Orthodox Saint!
    It’s strong and beautiful. Sometimes I wish I spelt it with an “e” instead of “a”.

    Reply

  30. “julian” is my dad’s name. the best man i have ever known. my hero. when i found out i was having a baby, naming a boy after him was a give-in. the day i found out i was pregnant i was driving down 6th st in downtown austin, and saw a “JULIAN GOLD” furniture sign and thought “julian” would be a perfect name for a boy. three hours later i got my first BFP! and today i have a little julian of my very own. <3

    Reply

  31. I wanted something classic and not too common, and I liked that it means “youthful” because that’s something I hope he embodies his whole life. 🙂 Also, my 93-year-old grandmother said she thought it was a strong name, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong!

    Reply

    • I’m an Emily mom who named her son Julian too! ????

      Reply

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