# What is Julia named after?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720
**Category:** Offtopic
**Created:** [September 5, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720 "2021-09-05T16:28:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@TheCedarPrince](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/TheCedarPrince)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/43 "2023-04-03T16:31:24Z")
Obviously (đ), Julia is an acronym for:
**J** ump
**U** p!
**L** eap
**I** nto
**A** ction!
I feel like it is pretty clear from Alanâs video here: [A programming language to heal the planet together: Julia | Alan Edelman | TEDxMIT - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGW0GT1rCvs)
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### Author:  [@ImreSamu](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ImreSamu)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/44 "2023-04-03T18:14:13Z")
> [@TheCedarPrince](#):
>
> Julia is an acronym for:
**J** ustifiably **U** nique **L** anguage for **I** ntelligent **A** lgorithms
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### Author:  [@lrnv](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/lrnv)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/45 "2023-04-03T18:57:44Z")
Julia Unleash Leaky Incomprehensible Abstractions (when I _know_ that the compiler is wrong and that I am right, I just cannot prove it _right now_).
@mbauman Is it ok to _personify_ the language (in my case the compiler) though ? I like to yell at the compiler, we have a complicated (but always productive) relationship together. Your link points out :
> [âŠ] In particular, do not sexualize the term âJuliaâ or any other aspects of the project. While âJuliaâ is a female name in many parts of the world, the programming language is not a person and does not have a gender.
I am not sure about the ânot a personâ part, is it only included to mark the point about not sexualizing it or is it broader ?
PS : To be sure we understand each other, I am not asserting that the programming language is a person. I am just asking if personifying it in public, usually for humor reasons or to help the transmission of a message that is harder to express without second degree, is considered OK.
For example, clearly, _sexualizing it_ for the same second degree reasons would _not_ be OK by these communities guidelines.
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### Author:  [@AMJ](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/AMJ)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/46 "2023-04-03T19:02:41Z")
I was moving on with my life doing my thing, now Iâm really curious why it is named Julia. đ
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### Author:  [@Palli](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Palli)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/47 "2023-04-04T13:50:17Z")
The official story is that Julia isnât named after anything, see at its Wikipedia page about it, and also there this recent (joke) quote from the co-creator Jeff: [CAS benchmarks (Symbolics.jl and Maxima) - #17 by jeff.bezanson](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cas-benchmarks-symbolics-jl-and-maxima/58359/17)
> Maybe julia stands for âJeffâs uncommon lisp is automatedâ?
Note, Julia is not really a traditional Lisp language (though has Lisp-like macros), he may be referring to his other language FemtoLisp, that is embedded into Julia; Julia is likely the best Lisp (if considered as such, like e.g. some consider Ruby a Lisp) though without the Lisp non-syntax, the best more traditional Lisp would be Clojure.
I tried with ChatGPT:
> :HvaĂ° stendur JĂșlĂĂĄ fyrir? [What does Julia stand for, I accidentally ended the Icelandic spelling with âĂĄâ, it didnât matter. Note, the Icelandic pronunciation would be more like Yooleea.]
> Ăg er afskaplega hrifinn af fyrirspurn ĂŸinni um hvaĂ° nafniĂ° âJĂșlĂaâ stendur fyrir. [Iâm very fond of your query on what âJĂșlĂaâ stands for.] [âŠ] âJuliusâ eĂ°a âJuliaâ [âŠ]
> Auk ĂŸess hefur nafniĂ° âJĂșlĂaâ veriĂ° tĂșlkaĂ° sem âung, ung stelpaâ eĂ°a âmikiĂ° af jĂłlagjöfumâ Ă nokkrum tungumĂĄlum. [⊠or âlots of Christmas presentsâ in several languages, I was very surprised, possibly thatâs a hallucination, maybe it can mean that, certainly Julia could have been a present to some people!]
Julia Uses LLVM Infrastructure for Acceleration
Jolted Up Language for Innovation and Agility.
JIT (Just-In-Time) Universal Language Implementation Architecture
Just-in-Time Updatable Language Implementation Architecture
Just Usable Language for Industrial Applications
ChatGPT could make for me lots of valid (Icelandic) acronyms, but theyâre mostly bad (seem better for at least some non-Icelandic), and that one isnât really directly translated to English):
Jafnvel Ăthaldandi ListrĂŠn IĂ°naĂ°arforritun ĂkvörĂ°unartöku (meaning âEvenly-Enduring Numerical Industrial Programming for Decision Makingâ)
Jederzeit Umsetzbare Leistungsoptimierte Interpreter Architektur (German, meaning âJust-In-Time Implementable Performance-Optimized Interpreter Architectureâ)
JULIA: JĂŒngste Und Leistungsstarke Integrierte Anwendungen (German for âLatest and Powerful Integrated Applicationsâ)
JĂșlia: JournĂ©e Utile pour les Logiciels dâIntelligence Artificielle (French for âUseful Day for Artificial Intelligence Softwareâ)
Juste Une Langue IdĂ©ale pour lâAnalyse (French, meaning âJust an Ideal Language for Analysisâ)
Juntando Usos de LibrerĂas para Inteligencia Artificial (Spanish, meaning âJoining Uses of Libraries for Artificial Intelligenceâ)
Justo Uso di Library per Intelligenza Artificiale (Italian, meaning âJust Use of Libraries for Artificial Intelligenceâ)
JÄzyk Uniwersalny do Analizy Algorytmicznej (Polish, meaning âUniversal Language for Algorithmic Analysisâ)
JULIA: Jovial User-friendly Language with Impressive Applications (English)
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### Author:  [@mbauman](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mbauman)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/48 "2023-04-04T15:15:38Z")
Anthropomorphization is fine, sexualization is not. Guidelines like these are just lines in the sand that live somewhere between fine behaviors and terribly offensive ones. If you think youâre close enough to the line to ask if your toe is hanging off the edge, just take a step back. Personally, Iâd avoid âhaving a complicated (but always productive) relationship [with Julia]â simply because Iâve seen a number of highly distasteful statements in the past that lie just a step or two over the line from there⊠and I want nothing to do with that, either in prose that I write or in path it points others to continue down.
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### Author:  [@fchichorro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fchichorro)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2023, 11:50am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/what-is-julia-named-after/67720/49 "2023-04-06T11:50:21Z")
I posted this some time ago in the slack #random channel, Julia is named after a [sea snail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_(gastropod))
đ đȘž
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