Judith is a Biblical name meaning "Jewess", "Jewish woman" or "woman from Judea." The name appears in the Bible, in the Old Testament, and more famously is the name of one of the books in the Apocrypha. In the Book of Judith, she saves her people from the invading Abyssinians by going to bed with their leader and then cutting off his head while he sleeps.
Judith is therefore best known as Jewish name, but has always been in occasional use by non-Jews too. In the 20th century it became very popular, often changed to the pet forms Judy and Jude. (It can also be spelt Judi, like the UK actress Judi Dench.)
There is also a boy's name Jude, which is actually quite different from Judith. Jude is a variant of the old Hebrew name Judah (meaning "praised") and is now very rare, although the popularity of the actor Jude Law has recently made it famous again. Other famous (fictional) Judes include Thomas Hardy's character "Jude the Obscure" and of course the 1960s Beatles song "Hey Jude."
Judith is therefore best known as Jewish name, but has always been in occasional use by non-Jews too. In the 20th century it became very popular, often changed to the pet forms Judy and Jude. (It can also be spelt Judi, like the UK actress Judi Dench.)
There is also a boy's name Jude, which is actually quite different from Judith. Jude is a variant of the old Hebrew name Judah (meaning "praised") and is now very rare, although the popularity of the actor Jude Law has recently made it famous again. Other famous (fictional) Judes include Thomas Hardy's character "Jude the Obscure" and of course the 1960s Beatles song "Hey Jude."
