Julian
A surname taken from the personal name Julian, ultimately from the ancient Roman family name Julius.
The #2,349 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,893 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname comes from the given name Julian, with related forms such as Julius and Juleus appearing in older records. The deeper root is the Roman name Julius, a very old Latin family name. In medieval England, Julian was used as a personal name, and the surname was formed from that given name.
History
The name appears in English records as a hereditary surname built from the forename Julian, and 19th-century surname writers treat it as straightforwardly personal-name based. Some old sources also note related or confused forms such as Jolland or Jollands, which were sometimes explained as altered versions of Julian. In modern English-speaking countries, Julian survives more often as a given name than as a surname, but it remains established as a family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century surname dictionary explicitly lists Julian as simply “the personal name,” making it one of the more straightforward surname explanations in the old books.
From the historical record
“JULEUS. A mis-spelling of Julius. JULIAN. JULIANS. The personal name. JULIUS. The personal name. JUMPER. Tlie first ]\Ir. Jtimper would appear to have derived his name not from his saltatory skill, but from his having been a maker of jumj^s, a kind of short leather coat or boddice, formerly worn by women. See…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom