Judah

Those from the Tribe of Judah were known as Judeans and this is where the terms Jews and Jewish comes from. Jesus son of Joseph had a brother named Judas - probably not Judas Iscariot, but we don't know for sure.

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It was Roman propaganda to portray the name Judas as the name of a traitor since it was Judas Maccabeus that led the armed rebellion against those who had invaded Palestine and forced the Hebrews to worship Greek gods in the Jerusalem Temple. Judas Iscariot wanted Jesus to fulfill the common concept of the Messiah - which was like Judas Maccabeus - to lead an armed rebellion against the Roman invaders. Jesus realized that this would just get a lot of people killed on both sides and even if successful, wouldn't change anything over the long run. The Messiah/Christ chose to receive 39 lashes and be crucified in order to follow GOD's plan of uniting the Hebrews and the Gentiles including the Roman Pagans. Historically, Christianity is a fusion of Messianic Judaism and Roman Paganism.

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Judas Iscariot was not the traitor that the gospels portray him as. Read the 'Gospel of Judas'. He was Jesus' most trusted disciple - he was the treasurer of the group - and Jesus and Judas know the prophecy of "30 pieces of silver" had to be fulfilled and they fulfilled it. After the Crucifixion, Judas threw the money back at the priests - he never wanted the money. It was Roman propaganda to portray Judas as a traitor - it's historically very inaccurate.

The names Judah, Jude, and Judas are essentially the same (endings are grammatical in most ancient languages); however, the original writers of the English versions of the Bible were concerned over confusion between the Judah's of the old testament, St. Jude the apostle, and Judas the apostle/betrayer. That's why all the endings. Someone else asked if Christians ever used this name. I don't know about all Christians, but I chose this name for my son because I liked the meaning, the connection to St. Jude, and the two syllable Judah sounded better with his middle and last names, than Jude did. We sometimes call him Jude, but we usually go with Buddah 'cause he's a little chub!

Judah as a name has the the same meaning as Jude. The original meaning of Judah in Hebrew is: the praise of the Lord; confession - according to Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary.

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In the New Testament Epistle of Jude, the name Jude is written as follows:
ιουδας

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In the New Testament, when the name Judah is written in Greek, and refers to the tribe of Judah - Judah is written as follows:
ιουδα

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In the original Old Testament story of the birth of the baby Judah, it is said that the baby's mother, Leah, named the baby Judah - and then said: "Now will I praise the LORD." (Genesis 29:35)

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In Hebrew, Judah is written as follows:
יְהוּדָה,

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Although It IS possible, I guess, to name a girl baby Jude or Judah - especially if the baby's birth meant that the family believed: "Now will I praise the Lord," it should be noted that Judith is the feminine form of Judah - and also means The praise of the Lord - or Confessing the praise of the Lord.

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Judith was a brave widow who saved her countrymen by tricking a foreign leader and then getting rid of him - permanently. The Book of Judith is included in some Bibles but is excluded from most Protestant and Jewish canons. Mainly because many of the "historical" details contained in the book have never been verified. Therefore, there is some different of opinion as to whether to book of Judith relates a factual occurrence - or was just a story which gained popularity during that time period. Whether historical or not - I would think that a little girl could easily feel honored to carry the name of Judith.

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Genesis 26:34 ALSO mentions a woman named Judith who was married to Esau, the twin brother of Jacob and, therefore, the daughter-in-law of Isaac and Rebelah.

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In Hebrew, the name Judith is written as follows:

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הוּדִית

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However, whether you render the name as Jude, Judas, Judah or Judith - the ORIGINAL meaning of the name remains the same - Praise the Lord or Confessing a praise of the Lord -- "Now will I praise the Lord."

I notice the page says Judah was the tribe to lead Israel out of Egypt. If I recall correctly from my reading of Exodus, Levi, not Judah, led Israel out (Moses, being Aaron's brother, was a Levite). Judah was, however, the ruling tribe of Israel, and it's where we get the names Judea and Jew.
[noted -ed]

About the Exodus thing- Moses was a Levite, and so was his brother Aharon and all the workers of the temple. However Jews are called so not because Judah was a chief tribe or something- it's because all jews are descendants of this tribe in particular, it was the last to be cast into exile.

In Jewish history you allso had Jehuda (Judah) Hamacabim, or somehing like that. He was the commander of the Maccabi against the Greeks. You can find his story in the story of Chanukah.