# Why is the name of the language "Julia"?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382>\
**Category:** Community\
**Created:** [June 21, 2017, 5:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382 "2017-06-21T05:51:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Evey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/evey/32/214967_2.png) [@Evey](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Evey)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 5:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/1 "2017-06-21T05:51:09Z")

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Python comes from Monty Python. C++ is the successor of C. C is the letter after B (another programming language). Haskell is named after Haskell Curry. Ada is inspired by Ada Lovelace. Java is coffee. Lisp is a contrived abbreviation of LISt Processor.

All of these facts can be found on the Wikipedia pages for the languages listed above, and more or less all other programming languages in existence have similar information linked to them—even ML, the MetaLanguage.

But not Julia. 🤷‍♀️

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**Author:** ![mzaffalon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mzaffalon/32/214168_2.png) [@mzaffalon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mzaffalon)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/2 "2017-06-21T06:07:27Z")

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Because there does not seem to be any reason: [https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/issues/5499](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/issues/5499).

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**Author:** ![Evey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/evey/32/214967_2.png) [@Evey](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Evey)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/3 "2017-06-21T06:17:42Z")

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“It just seemed like a pretty name”, referenced in the linked interview, is a reason—and an acceptable answer to me, if it is true.

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**Author:** ![oxinabox](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/oxinabox/32/206603_2.png) [@oxinabox](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/oxinabox)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/5 "2017-06-21T11:29:38Z")

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I always assumed it was a reference to the Julia Set

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**Author:** ![stevengj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/stevengj/32/71_2.png) [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/6 "2017-06-21T14:49:55Z")

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> [@oxinabox](#):
>
> I always assumed it was a reference to the Julia Set

Nope. [What does the name of "Julia" (the programming language) refer to? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29290780/what-does-the-name-of-julia-the-programming-language-refer-to)

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**Author:** ![mzaffalon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mzaffalon/32/214168_2.png) [@mzaffalon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mzaffalon)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/7 "2017-07-02T20:36:05Z")

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And while we are discussing trivia, what is the reason for the weird hats at page 6 of [https://github.com/stevengj/18S096-iap17/blob/master/lecture1/Course-overview.pdf](https://github.com/stevengj/18S096-iap17/blob/master/lecture1/Course-overview.pdf)?

[EDIT: fancy, not weird is the term I should have used. Thank you @Evizero.]

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**Author:** ![Evizero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/evizero/32/10118_2.png) [@Evizero](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Evizero)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/8 "2017-07-03T08:16:03Z")

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fancy hats need no context

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**Author:** ![geoalchimista](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@geoalchimista](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/geoalchimista)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 2:48am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/9 "2018-07-26T02:48:47Z")

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Here’s a random thought, maybe only remotely related to this. Since the file extension for Julia source code is `.jl`, why not reinterpret those two letters to signify one of the defining features of Julia — **J** IT compiler on top of **L** LVM? 🙂

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**Author:** ![jandehaan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jandehaan/32/6805_2.png) [@jandehaan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jandehaan)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/10 "2018-07-26T14:19:20Z")

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> [@stevengj](#):
>
> Nope. [What does the name of "Julia" (the programming language) refer to? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29290780/what-does-the-name-of-julia-the-programming-language-refer-to)

Which refers to a video at [Shows | Microsoft Learn](https://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Charles/Stefan-Karpinski-and-Jeff-Bezanson-Julia-Programming-Language). Stefan and Jeff answer the question at time stamp 18:54.

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**Author:** ![ExpandingMan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/expandingman/32/866_2.png) [@ExpandingMan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ExpandingMan)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/11 "2018-07-30T22:36:27Z")

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Really guys, you would make everyone’s lives so much easier if you just started telling people it was named after the Julia set 😆

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**Author:** ![Dreffed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/dreffed/32/6305_2.png) [@Dreffed](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dreffed)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/12 "2018-12-03T19:48:09Z")

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I was really hoping it was named after “Julia” from 1984, but random name is still a good naming convention.

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**Author:** ![Jason\_Smith](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jason_smith/32/38690_2.png) [@Jason\_Smith](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Jason_Smith)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/13 "2022-08-10T05:16:06Z")

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When I first heard of the language, I thought of Julia from 1984. Now I will always feel the language is named for that fictional character. So, to me, it _is_ named for the 1984 character.

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**Author:** ![nilshg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/nilshg/32/2283_2.png) [@nilshg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/nilshg)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 9:11am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/15 "2022-08-10T09:11:43Z")

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Now that this old thread has been resurrected, I feel I also have to leave here my (admittedly retconned) favourite semi-official explanation:

> [@CAS benchmarks (Symbolics.jl and Maxima)](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/cas-benchmarks-symbolics-jl-and-maxima/58359/17):
>
> This is cool to see because it reminds me of a moment that was probably a key influence on julia. I learned the lisp lore that you could, say, write a macro to add type declarations to every subexpression, and then a good lisp implementation would generate fast code. I immediately thought two things: Why not just declare the types of variables? You can, but common lisp is generally too “type-unstable” (as we would call it) to be sure you’ll get the intended code. (May not be true for floats b…

(As the preview cuts out the punchline, it is: " **J** eff’s **u** ncommon **l** isp **i** s **a** utomated)

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**Author:** ![Palli](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/palli/32/3380_2.png) [@Palli](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Palli)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 10:57am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/16 "2022-08-10T10:57:31Z")

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Welcome, @Jason_Smith, I believe this is still official from Wikipedia (I’m not sure why people don’t look up, by now, there):

> in April 2012, Karpinski said of the name “Julia”: “There’s no good reason, really. It just seemed like a pretty name.”

Jeff is also a co-designer of Julia, and only in 2021 he wrote (that’s also quoted on Julia’s Wikipedia page):

> Maybe julia stands for “Jeff’s uncommon lisp is automated”?

I feel like the latter is a joke, a fairly elaborate one (you have to know of the Lisp language, and maybe Jeff’s other language FemtoLisp, a Scheme/Lisp variant, which is actually also included in Julia for its parser), but you can’t state that on Wikipedia.

I at least feel the “Maybe” crucial, and “it is” to be avoided. I realized you used the word “reconned”, but I wasn’t sure how known that word is, not being a native speaker, so I checked. It’s from 2003 (or earlier), a comic book term (short for short for “_[retroactive](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/retroactive#English)_ +‎ _[continuity](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/continuity#English)_” from 1983 book or earlier).

[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/retcon](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/retcon)

I did learn there’s yet another word stetcon, not yet in Wiktonary:

[http://www.peterdavid.net/2014/07/11/retcons-and-stetcons/](http://www.peterdavid.net/2014/07/11/retcons-and-stetcons/)

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**Author:** ![rafael.guerra](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rafael.guerra/32/216610_2.png) [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/17 "2022-08-10T11:00:55Z")

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Julia can also mean “youthful”, a derivative of the Latin word “iuvenale”.

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**Author:** ![Marcell\_Havlik](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/marcell_havlik/32/37424_2.png) [@Marcell\_Havlik](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Marcell_Havlik)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/18 "2023-01-10T20:28:20Z")

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I think this is pretty fun, so I insert it here: (ChatGPT)  
 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/0/f/0f32e3f4d9639fc85c4a79661269461bc6dfd930.png)

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**Author:** ![Marcell\_Havlik](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/marcell_havlik/32/37424_2.png) [@Marcell\_Havlik](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Marcell_Havlik)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/19 "2023-01-10T20:29:36Z")

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Also it is fun to see its opinion about alternative names:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/8/f/8f20233bd0ca91b66a3a317280bd35be4e65a3b7.png)

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**Author:** ![aramirezreyes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/aramirezreyes/32/42573_2.png) [@aramirezreyes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aramirezreyes)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/20 "2023-01-10T20:36:18Z")

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What? where did it get that from? Is that a version that has been lurking in the internet? Or is it just totally made up?

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**Author:** ![mbauman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mbauman/32/31082_2.png) [@mbauman](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mbauman)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/21 "2023-01-10T20:49:11Z")

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Discussing what ChatGPT spits out is — in my opinion — significantly **less** interesting than discussing dreams.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/0/7/07c3d4bd9bf0f622ffdc16ee6ca5b13bdbbc689e.png)

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**Author:** ![kellertuer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/kellertuer/32/220707_2.png) [@kellertuer](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/kellertuer)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-the-name-of-the-language-julia/4382/22 "2023-01-10T20:49:30Z")

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That is quite a philosophical question – it is from ChatGPT, so totally made up (based on Machine Learning) would fit quite well I think 😉

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