Informal spelling of Judy, a diminutive of Judith, Hebrew for 'woman of Judea' or 'praised.'
Judi is a variant spelling of Judy, itself the familiar form of Judith, one of the oldest and most storied names in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Judith derives from the Hebrew Yehudit, meaning 'woman of Judea' or, in its verbal root, 'praised' — connected to the same root as Judah and ultimately to the word that gives us 'Jew.' In the Hebrew Bible, Judith is the courageous widow who saves her besieged city by entering the Assyrian general Holofernes's camp, winning his trust, and beheading him — a story of female heroism that was endlessly painted, sculpted, and retold from the Renaissance onward.
Artemisia Gentileschi's brutal, magnificent canvas of Judith and Holofernes is among the most famous paintings of the seventeenth century. The Judy form, and then Judi, emerged through the natural English diminutive process and became popular as a standalone name in the early twentieth century. The mid-century actress Judy Garland — born Frances Ethel Gumm — made the name synonymous with luminous, heartbreaking talent, and it dominated baby name lists through the 1940s and 1950s.
The Judi spelling offers a subtle individuation within that tradition, most spectacularly embodied by Dame Judi Dench, the British actress whose decades of stage and screen work across Shakespeare, James Bond films, and prestige drama have made her one of the most revered performers of her generation. Today Judi sits in the nostalgic-but-genuine category: old enough to feel vintage, rare enough among younger generations to feel fresh, and anchored by two remarkable women — one fictional heroine, one living legend — who give it unmistakable substance.