The Julius were members of a patrician family in Rome, believed to be descended from Iule, the son of Aeneas, from whom came Julius Caesar. The first name Jules spread throughout the ancient world. It was common in the 19th century, then disappeared until 2000 before coming back into fashion. Feast on April 12.
Origin and etymology of the first name Jules
From Latin Julius, name of an important Roman family (the gens Julia). The Julia family linked its name to that of the son of Aeneas, Julus (also named Ascanius), presumed ancestor of the legendary founder of Rome, Romulus. From this family came the Roman general and politician Julius Caesar (100-44 BC). After the conquest of Gaul and the elimination of his adversary Pompey, he installed Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt, and returned to Rome wreathed in glory. Clever demagogue exercising a quasi-monarchical power, he was assassinated by republican conspirators (including his adopted son Brutus) during the Ides of March 44.
Saint Julius was for his part a pope in the 4th century, who built many basilicas.
Julian is a variant of Julius, exemplified in antiquity by Emperor Julian the Apostate, in the 4th century, who abandoned the Catholic religion and favored paganism.
Use and popularity of the first name Jules
The surname of Julius Caesar quickly evolved into a first name and was common in antiquity. Hardly used in medieval times, it reappeared in force in the 19th century, to such an extent that it became a common noun, “my Jules, a jules”, designating a virile man; the first name disappeared, and has been back in vogue since 2000. Julien was very popular in the 80s.
The XIX th century provides the bulk of the battalion of famous Jules. We can mention among them the writers Jules Renard and Jules Verne, the historian Jules Michelet and the politicians Jules Grévy and Jules Ferry, the name of the latter being attached to the birth of the republican school.
To go further
- 2000 first names and their history, by Omer Englebert. Albin Michel, 2015.
- The Book of my first name - Jules. First, 2017.