girl's name
Judy
JOO-dee
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 386,858
Northern Ireland
#370
2004 births
Judy is a girl's name, the pet form of Judith, from a Hebrew word meaning a woman of Judea. Our data marks it stable, and it charts in five of the seven markets we track.
- Judy is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 1947, when 21,073 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 31,576 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Judy over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 41 |
| 1890s | 95 |
| 1900s | 152 |
| 1910s | 888 |
| 1920s | 2,632 |
| 1930s | 22,394 |
| 1940s | 168,202 |
| 1950s | 118,315 |
| 1960s | 50,490 |
| 1970s | 9,712 |
| 1980s | 4,903 |
| 1990s | 2,662 |
| 2000s | 1,481 |
| 2010s | 1,369 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 737 |
What Judy means
Judy means a woman of Judea, or a Jewish woman, carried through Judith. The Hebrew name is an ethnic and regional description rather than a quality.
Where Judy comes from
Judy is clipped from Judith, the Hebrew Yehudit, a woman of Judah or Judea — the feminine of Yehudi, from which Jew derives. Judith has her own book in the Catholic and Orthodox canons, in which she saves her city by beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes, a scene Renaissance painters returned to repeatedly. The pet form Judy is old enough to appear in Punch and Judy, the puppet show that reached England from Italy in the seventeenth century, though the puppet's name there is unrelated to any modern bearer. Judy Garland, born Frances Gumm, took the name in 1934.
Judy in use
Judy peaked in the United States in 1947, when 21,073 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 1118th in Ireland, 1478th in France on 25 births, 1879th in the United States on 105 and 2004th in England and Wales, across 386,858 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Judy?
In 2025, Judy was given to 105 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Judy is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Judy
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Judy also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Judy over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Judy in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Judy
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Judy — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Judy
What does the name Judy mean?
A woman of Judea, carried through Judith from the Hebrew Yehudit.
Is Judy short for Judith?
Yes, and it has been registered as a full name in its own right throughout the twentieth century.
Was Judy Garland's real name Judy?
No — she was born Frances Gumm and took the name in 1934.
How popular is Judy?
1879th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Judy a girl's or a boy's name?
Judy is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Judy?
Judy has 2 syllables.
Is Judy a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Judy currently ranks #1,108 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.