Jules

French form of Latin Julius
"youthful; soft, downy"

Jules Origin and Meaning

The name Jules is a boy's name of French, Latin origin meaning "youthful; soft, downy".

Though Jules hasn't been on the US popularity list in fifty years, it is a current hit in its native France—where it's currently in the Top 10—and we can definitely see it making a comeback here, being far more romantic than, say, Jim.

The glittering Jules has a solid history, attached to such cultural notables as author Verne, opera composer Massenet, painter Olitski, and cartoonist Feiffer, as well as appearing as a character in such iconic films as Pulp Fiction and St. Elmo's Fire and in Balzac's novel The Human Comedy and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

These days, Jules is also apt to be heard as a nickname for the feminine Julia or Julie, as in TV personality Jules Asner, the Keira Knightley character in Bend it Like Beckham, and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's wife—spelled Jools.

# 994 in the US

Jules Rank in US Top 1000

# 357 on Nameberry

Jules Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Jules Popularity

Famous People Named Jules

  • Jules Gabriel Verne
    French author
  • Jules Olitski
    American painter
  • Jules Ralph Feiffer
    American cartoonist
  • Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet
    French composer
  • Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville
    French explorer
  • Jules Lucien André Bianchi
    French Formula One driver
  • Jules Michelet
    French historian
  • Jules Jordan
    American adult film director
  • Jules Jean Baptiste Vincent Bordet
    French microbiologist; winner of the Nobel Prize
  • Jules A. Hoffmann
    French biologist; winner of the Nobel Prize
  • Jules Jeptha "Jep" Robertson
    American reality TV personality ("Duck Dynasty")
  • Jules Augustus "Gus" Robertson
    adopted son of Jep and Jessica Robertson
  • Jules Andrew Grey (b. 2015)
    son of American producer Brad Grey

Jules in Pop Culture

  • Jules Amedée François Maigret
    detective created by Georges Simenon
  • Jules
    birth name of "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" character Dr. Julian Bashir
  • Jules Winnfield
    character in "Pulp Fiction"
  • Julian "Jules" Wyatt
    main character in G. A. Henty's, Through Russian Snows
  • Jules de St. Caux
    character in G. A. Henty's, In the Reign of Terror
  • Julian "Jules" Blackthorn
    main character in Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices and The Mortal Instruments series
  • "Jules and Jim
    " 1963 French film