Judith

Judith is a female given name of Hebrew origin. It derives from Yehudit, commonly interpreted as “woman of Judea” or “Jewess,” reflecting its biblical roots. The name appears in many languages in forms such as Judit and Juditha, with Judy as a common English diminutive. In religious and literary contexts, Judith also refers to the heroine of the Book of Judith, a deuterocanonical text in Catholic and Orthodox traditions, in which she saves her people by beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes.

Notable people named Judith include: Judith Butler (born 1956), an American philosopher and gender theorist known for the idea of gender performativity; Judith Jamison (born 1943), an American dancer and choreographer and former artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Judith Resnik (1949–1986), an American engineer and astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; Judith Sheindlin (born 1942), an American lawyer and television personality widely known as Judge Judy.

Dame Judi Dench, born Judith Olivia Dench in 1934, is an English actress widely regarded as one of Britain’s most respected performers. Judith Krantz (1928–2019) was an American novelist known for popular romance fiction; Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952–2016) was a Puerto Rican–American poet, essayist, and novelist; Judith Malina (1926–2015) was a German-born American actress and cofounder of The Living Theatre.

The name Judith has continued to be used through the modern era, often shortened to Judy in informal contexts, and remains associated with a range of cultural, artistic, and scholarly figures.