Judah is a masculine given name of Hebrew origin. It is the English form of Yehudah (יְהוּדָה‎), the Hebrew name of the biblical figure Judah, founder of the Tribe of Judah and thus, the eponym of the Kingdom of Judah and the Jews.

Notable people with one or the other variant of the name include:

Etymology

The Hebrew name for Judah, Yehuda (יהודה), literally "thanksgiving" or "praise," is the noun form of the root Y-D-H (ידה), "to thank" or "to praise."^[1] His birth is recorded at Gen. 29:35; upon his birth, Leah exclaims, "This time I will praise the LORD/YHWH," with the Hebrew word for "I will praise," odeh (אודה) sharing the same root as Yehuda. Alternatively, Edward Lipiński connected Hebrew yĕhūdā with Arabic whd / wahda "cleft, ravine".^[2]

Biblical and ancient historical figures

In chronological order:

• Judah (son of Jacob), fourth son of the Biblical patriarch Jacob
• Judah Maccabee or Judas Maccabeus, Jewish priest who led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE)
• Judas Iscariot, Hebrew Yehūḏā ʾĪš-Qǝrīyyōṯ, 'Judah, man of Kerioth' (died c. AD 30), one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus
• Judah ha-Nasi, also Judah the Prince or Judah I, Jewish sage and leader (2nd century)
• Judah II, Jewish sage (3rd century)
• Judah III, Jewish sage (3rd and 4th century)
• Judah IV, Talmudic sage (4th century)
• Judah b. Meremar, Babylonian sage (5th century?)

Saints

• Saint Jude (Thaddeus) the Apostle, one of Twelve,^[3]
• Saint Jude, brother of Jesus, one of Seventy-two,^[4]
• Saint Justus (Jude) of Jerusalem, third Bishop of Jerusalem,^[5]
• Saint Jude Barsabbas, prophet, Church leader,^[6]
• Saint Jude, one of Holy Maccabean Martyrs,^[7]
• Saint Jude Cyriacus, bishop of Ancona,^[8]
• Saint Jude Machabeus, priest and leader,^[9]
• Saint Jude, son of Jacob, Old Testmanet patriarch,^[10]
• Saint Jude, host of Saint Paul in Damascus,^[11]

People with the given name

Judah

In alphabetical order:

• Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884), politician and lawyer in the United States and Confederate States of America
• Judah Bergman aka "Jack Kid Berg" (1909–1991), English world champion Hall of Fame junior welterweight boxer
• Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1512-1526 – 1609) or Rabbi Loew of Prague, the Maharal, Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic and philosopher
• Judah David Bleich (born 1936), American rabbi and authority on Jewish law and ethics
• Judah Folkman (1933–2008), American cellular biologist, founder of the field of antiangiogenesis
• Judah Friedlander (born 1969), American actor best known from 30 Rock
• Judah Grace (born 2022), American person known for being born on twosday at 2:22 AM.
• Judah Halevi (1075–1141), medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet
• Judah Hertz (born 1948/49), American real estate investor
• Judah Lewis (born 2000 or 2001), American actor
• Judah Leon Magnes (1877–1948), rabbi, first President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Judah Nagler (born 1980), singer, guitarist, and songwriter for indie-pop band The Velvet Teen
• "Judah son of Jesus", name on one of the ossuaries in the 1st-century Talpiot Tomb

Yehuda(h), Yehudi

In alphabetical order of their surname:

• Yehuda Alharizi (mid-12th century – 1225), medieval Spanish rabbi, translator, poet and traveller
• Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000), Israeli poet
• Yehuda Amital (1924–2010), dean of Yeshivat Har Etzion, former Israeli cabinet member
• Yehuda Atedji (born 1961), Israeli Olympic windsurfer
• Yehuda Danon (born 1940), Israeli doctor
• Yehuda Gilad (musician), contemporary clarinetist and conductor
• Yehuda Gilad (politician) (born 1955), Israeli rabbi and politician
• Yehudah Glick (born 1965), American-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi, activist, and politician
• Yehuda Green (born 1959), Shlomo Carlebach-inspired Hasidic singer, composer, and hazzan
• Yehuda Hayuth (born 1946), Israeli professor of geography
• Yehudah Jacobs (c. 1940–2020), American rabbi
• Yehuda Krinsky (born 1933), Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi
• Yehuda Kurtzer (born 1977), President of The Shalom Hartman Institute of North America
• Yehuda Moraly (born 1948), Israeli theater researcher, playwright, director, actor, and professor
• Yehuda Poliker (born 1950), Israeli singer-songwriter
• Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), world-famous violinist
• Yehuda Tzadka (1910–1991), dean of Porat Yosef Yeshiva, Jerusalem
• Yehuda Wiener-Gafni (born 1930), Israeli Olympic basketball player
• Yehuda Weisenstein (born 1955), Israeli Olympic fencer
• Yehuda Zadok (born 1958), Israeli Olympic runner

Fictional characters

• Judah Ben-Hur, main character of the 1880 Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and film adaptations

• Judah Mannowdog, character in the TV show Bojack Horseman

• Judah Rosenthal, character in the film Crimes and Misdemeanors played by Martin Landau

• Judah, character in Weeds (TV series) played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan