English, French, and German: from the vernacular form of the
Hebrew personal name Yehuda ‘Judah’ (of unknown meaning). In
the Bible, this is the name of Jacob’s eldest son. It was not a
popular name among Christians in medieval Europe, because of the
associations it had with Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed
Christ for thirty pieces of silver. Among Jews, however, the Hebrew
name and its reflexes in various Jewish languages (such as Yiddish
Yude) have been popular for generations, and have given rise to
many Jewish surnames.
French: name for a Jew, Old French
jude (Latin Iudaeus, Greek Ioudaios, from Hebrew
Yehudi ‘member of the tribe of Judah’).
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