The Julian Clan

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Julius, Julia, Julie, Juliette, Julilla we go into the name Julius lets remained focused on Julus/Iulus, (the names were rendered in Latin as Iulus, Iulius, Iulia and Iulilla). In Roman legend he was sometimes known as Ascanius and some sources have him down as the son of Aeneas and Creusa. He fled with his parents to the area of Rome to escape the raging war between Troy and Greece. In Virgil’s Aeneid, it mentions that Iulus had a role in founding the city of Rome. Other legendary sources, however, proclaim that Iulus was actually the son of Aeneas and Lavinia and that he was born in Lazio Italy, (the region in which Rome is situated), and he grew up to found the little city state of Alba Longa. His grandson was Aeneas Silvus. Supposedly, Julus grandmother was Venus. The origins of Julus/Iulus are not definite, but many sources believe that it is derived from the Greek Ioulos meaning “downy-bearded.” If this meaning is accurate it would suggest that the name was originally used to describe a pubescent boy who shows the first budding signs of facial hair. In that case, the name would be used in reference to someone who looked youthful

Flash forward to the Roman Republic and we have the well known Julius Caesar. He is most notable for his revolutionary move of transforming the Republic into an Empire and thus proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome. Julius Caesar had both a daughter and sister named Julia. His sister was known as Julia while his daughter was known as Julia Caesaris Minor.
In Christian legend, Julia is also borne by the early Martyr Saint Julia of Carthage. Julia was a Carthaginian noble woman but as a little girl, she was kidnapped and sold as a slave to a Roman master. Legend has it that she came from a Christian family, while her master was a follower of the old Roman gods. When her master had taken her to the Isle of Corsica, he tried to force her to participate in a local pagan festival. Julia refused to join in the festivities, however, and since she was not a Roman citizen, she had to die the undignified way of crucifixion. She is now considered the patron saint of Corsica and her feast is held on May 23rd.
Julilla is a Latin diminutive off shoot of the name and might make an interesting twist on both Julia and the currently popular Lily. Julia is a very popular name throughout Europe, while Julie (ZHEW-LEE) is its French counterpart. In most of mainland Europe, though, Julia is pronounced (YOOL-yah); in Spain and South America as (HOO-lee-ah) and in Italy where its rendered as Giulia (JOO-lee-ah).

From the French we get the diminutive spin off of Juliette, now considered a full fledged name in France and the Italian Giulietta, also considered an independent name in its own right. This is where we run into the anglicized Juliet.

Juliet
his particular spelling is an Anglicization of the Italian Giulietta. The name was first introduced into the English speaking world by William Shakespeare for his character in his star-crossed play, Romeo & Juliet (1596). Shakespeare based his play off of an Italian romance which had been translated into English by Arthur Brooke in 1562. The original tale was set in Siena and was written in 1467 by Masiuccio Salernitano who insisted it was based off of a true story. The character names, however, are a little different, they are named Mariotto (a diminutive form of Mario) and Gianozza a diminutive form of Giovanna. In 1530, another Italian author by the name of Luigi da Porto, took the same tale and changed the characters names to Romeo and Giulietta and reset the story in the city of his hometown Verona. It is from this version that Shakespeare’s inspiration had come.

Julian, Julien, Juliane, Juliana, Julienne
Julian is just an offshoot of Julius. Julian and Julien were born by several early Christian saints, as well as Julien the Hospotelier and Julian the Apostate. Juliana was born by several Italian saints throughout the ages, though rendered in its native language as Giuliana. Julienne is a French feminine form of Julien.

Julitta
Probably another ancient diminutive form of Julia, though some sources insist it is a Latin form of Judith, the name was borne by an early Christian martyr, who, when she refused to give up her religion was punished by watching her infant son get bludgeoned.

Júlírós
An Icelandic Smush, the name is appears on the approved list of Icelandic female names. Pronounced as (YOO-lih-ROSE), the name literally means “July Rose.”

Other forms of the name include:

Male Versions

  • Julen (Basque)
  • Jolyon (English)
  • Julien/Jules (French)
  • Julian (German/Polish/English)
  • Gyula (Hungarian)
  • Giulio/Giuliano (Italian)
  • Juliusz (Polish)
  • Iuliu/Iulian (Romanian)
  • Juli (Romansch)
  • Yulian (Russian/Bulgarian)
  • Yuli (Russian)
  • Július (Slovakian)
  • Julij (Slovenian)
  • Julián (Spanish)
  • Julio (Spanish/Portuguese)
  • Yuliy (Ukrainian)

Female Versions

  • Xhulia/Xhuliana (Albanian)
  • Iulia (Bulgarian/Romanian)
  • Yuliana (Bulgarian)
  • Julija (Croatian/Lithuanian/Slovene)
  • Juliana (Dutch/English/German/Portuguese/Spanish)
  • Jula/Jule (German)
  • Juli (German)
  • Juliane (German/French)
  • Ioula/Ioulía (Greek Modern)
  • Gillian (English)
  • Julia (English, German, Polish)
  • Juliet (English)
  • Juulia (Estonian)
  • Julie/Julienne (French)
  • Juliette (French)
  • Julina/Juline (German)
  • Juli/Júlia/Julinka/Juliska (Hungarian)
  • Julianna (Hungarian/Polish)
  • Júlía (Icelandic)
  • Iúile (Irish)
  • Giulia/Giuliana/Giulietta (Italian)
  • Julitta (Latin/Dutch/Romansch)
  • Džūliaja (Latvian)
  • Jūlija (Latvian)
  • Julita (Polish)
  • Iuliana (Romanian)
  • Iulscha (Romansch)
  • Geletta (Romansch)
  • Gelgia (Romansch)
  • Uliana (Russian)
  • Yulia (Russian)
  • Julijana (Slovenian)
  • Julieta (Spanish)
  • Yuliya (Ukrainian/Bulgarian)
  • Ulyana (Ukrainian)

1 thought on “The Julian Clan”


  1. I’ll allow myself to offer a few more variants if you don’t mind 😉

    Jule (YOO-lə) and Jula (YOO-lah) started out as German diminutive/short forms of Julia and are now used as first names in their own right.
    Julina is a German elaboration of Julia – and a simplification of Juliana at that – which has become quite popular in recent years. A variant of Julina is Juline.
    Juli (YOO-lee) is the German equivalent of Julie (and coincidentally also the German word for the month of July); it’s rather common now thanks to the novelist Juli Zeh.
    The Hungarian diminutive form of Julia is Julika.
    The French form of Julius is Jules.
    And I also found an old French diminutive form: Julot.
    In Romansh-speaking areas Iulscha (YOOL-shah) can be found, as well as Gelgia (this is also the Romansh term for the river “Julia”).

    Geletta might be a Romansh form of Julietta.

    Reply ↓

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