Show ContentsJulius History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The ancient and distinguished German surname Julius is derived from the Roman personal name "Julius," which is itself thought to be derived from the Greek "ioulos," meaning "downy-bearded." The surname indicates "son of Julius."

Early Origins of the Julius family

The surname Julius was first found in Saxony, where the surname is thought to have first emerged. The name was first adopted from Roman history by the royal house of the Guelfs, borne by Duke Heinrich Julius of Brunswick in 1528. The name had become a surname by the mid-16th century, and was used with increasing frequency in the region. The young Julius family played a major role in the early history of Saxony, and was instrumental in the development of the region's medieval society.

Early History of the Julius family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Julius research. Another 85 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1601, 1783, 1811, 1843, 1862 and 1879 are included under the topic Early Julius History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Julius Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Julius, Julian, Julianus, Julien and others.

Early Notables of the Julius family

Notables of the time included

  • Karl Ferdinand Julius (d. 1843), a prominent military general, Nikolaus Heinrich Julius (1783-1862), a well-known German physician, and Louis Julius (1811-1879), a popular actor

Julius Ranking

In the United States, the name Julius is the 8,565th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1 However, in South Africa, the name Julius is ranked the 749th most popular surname with an estimated 9,215 people with that name. 2


United States Julius migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Julius Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Julius Julius, who arrived in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania in 1743 3
  • Henrich Julius, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1747 3
  • Jacob Julius, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1748 3
  • Philip Jacob Julius, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1765 3
  • John Will Julius, who landed in Georgia in 1781 3
Julius Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • George Henri Julius, who arrived in New York in 1837 3
  • W H Julius, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1849 3
  • Philip Julius, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1870 3

New Zealand Julius migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Julius Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Julius, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Simlah" arriving in Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 9th April 1855 4
  • Mr. E. A. Julius, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sebastian" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 7th October 1859 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Julius (post 1700) +

  • Axelrod Julius (1912-2004), American biochemist, shared the 1970 Nobel Prize for studies of how nerve impulses are transmitted
  • Paul Julius Reuter (1816-1899), born Israel Beer Josaphat, German-born, British journalist and the founder of the Reuters news agency in 1851
  • Harry Julius Shearer (b. 1943), American Primetime Emmy Award winning actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer
  • DeWayne Julius Rogers (1948-2020), American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist
  • Karl Julius Schröer (1825-1900), Austrian linguist and literary critic, son of the educator and writer Tobias Gottfried Schröer (1791-1850)
  • Adolph Julius Rodenbeck (1862-1960), American Republican politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Monroe County 2nd District, 1899-1901; Mayor of Rochester, New York, 1902-03 5
  • George Julius Perles (1934-2020), American football player and coach, assistant head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1972 to 1982
  • Frank Julius Corte Jr. (b. 1959), American real estate businessman and politician who served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives between 1993 and 2011
  • Anton Julius Butter (1920-1989), Dutch economist, Associate Professor the Department of Economics of the University of Amsterdam
  • John Julius Norwich (1929-2018), born John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich, an English popular historian, travel writer and television personality


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. "Most Common Last Names in South Africa." Forebears, https://forebears.io/south-africa/surnames
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  4. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  5. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook