Julian

Julian is a name that was actually used for any gender in the Middle Ages, but has since become more popular as a masculine name. It means "youthful" or "Jove's child" and comes from the Latin name Julianus, a form of Julius. Julianus was the clan name of multiple Roman emperors.

Other names that mean "youthful" or "young" include Camila, Juniper, Chloe, Rivka, Owen, Lionel, and the somewhat obvious Junior. Parents who like the name Julian may also love Jonah, Judah, Julius, Ian, Jules, Lucien, Damian, Adrien, Laurent, or Marceau. It's also a slightly less-common favorite of parents who love the top names for boys in the U.S. these days, such as Liam and Noah.

Famous Julians (other than those Roman emperors, that is) include Julian Assange, Cannonball Adderley (born Julian), Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, Julian Lennon, Julian Knowle, Jools Holland, Julian Lloyd Webber, Julian of Norwich, and Julian Schwinger.

The name Julian began gaining popularity in the United States in the mid-1980s and has been climbing ever since. Its most popular years ever were 2016, 2017, and again in 2019, when 8,391 Julians were born in the U.S.

Julian in quotes:

"There were two sides of Julian, she thought, and she remembered a line from something she'd read —Emily Brontë, maybe. Different as a moonbeam and lightning. She wanted to reach the moonbeam part, but she didn't know how." — L.J. Smith, 'The Kill'

"I realize myself that hate wastes a lot of time and energy, and I would rather redirect any energy that I have to good and positive use." — Julian Lennon