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Dictionary of Medieval Names
from European Sources

Judith f. Hebrew יְהוּדִית 'woman from Judea, Jewess'.

The name of eponymous character in one of the books of the Apocrypha, a 9th C empress of the Franks, a 9th C queen consort of Wessex, a 10th C duchess of Normandy, an 11th C duchess consort of Poland, an 11th C queen consort of Hungary and Poland, a 12th C queen consort of Bohemia, and a 13th C queen consort of Bohemia and Poland. Wycliffite Bible (1395): Judith.

The name was used but never common in England before the 16th C. In Germany and Eastern Europe, the name was rare outside of royalty and nobility, while in Iberia it is almost unheard of outside Jewish populations.

Czech Republic
Latin
1349 Jutka (nom) chlumecky 101; 1350 Jutca (nom) ibid. 206, Jutka (nom) ibid. 173, Jutta (nom) ibid. 178; 1353 Jutca (nom) ibid. 22, p. 22; 1354 Jutka (nom) ibid. 55; 1356 Jutce (dat) ibid. 156, Juthce (dat) ibid. 124, Jutta (abl) ibid. 152; 1358 Jutcze (dat) ibid. 199, p. 30
England
Early Modern English
1551 Judeth StAnthonlin p. 8; 1563 Judithe HAmar-vol9 p. 68; 1566 Judeth StAnthonlin p. 18; 1575 Judith bruton-vol1 p. 42; 1585 Judeth CAmar-vol1 p. 4, Judith BUmar-vol9 p. 7, DEmar-vol2 p. 11; 1586 Judith ibid. p. 12; 1587 Judith ibid. p. 14; 1589 Judith ibid. p. 18, HAmar-vol9 p. 50, bruton-vol1 p. 49; 1590 Judith DEmar-vol2 p. 20; 1592 Judith ibid. p. 24; 1593 Judith BEmar-vol2 p. 96, BUmar-vol9 p. 8, DEmar-vol2 p. 26; 1594 Judith BUmar-vol9 p. 8, DEmar-vol2 p. 29; 1597 Judith BUmar-vol2 p. 66, StAnthonlin p. 38; 1598 Judith BEmar-vol1 p. 17; 1599 Judith DEmar-vol2 p. 40
1577 Juda StAnthonlin p. 26
France
Latin
1015 Judith (gen) NTDip-vol4 p. 225; 1173 Judith (nom) clairvaux-12thc 151
Germany
Latin
1151 Juditin (abl) mairhofer XLI
1257 Iutta (nom) hennes-vol1 171, Iutte (gen) ibid. 171; 1258 Iutta (nom) ibid. 174, Iutte (dat) ibid. 174
Latvia
Latin
1287 Yutte (dat) RigSB 469; 1299 Jutta (nom) ibid. 277
Cite as: S.L. Uckelman. "Judith". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2015, no. 3. http://dmnes.org/2015/3/name/Judith.