Of Latin and Greek origin.
Juliana is the feminine form of the name Julian, from Julius deriving from Iulianus.
Julius was the name of a prominent Roman family.
Sources mention that its root comes from the Greek word “ίουλος” (ioulos), meaning the first beard of adolescent boys.
It was the name of the 14th century Benedictine English mystic St. Juliana of Norwich.
Her book “Revelations of Divine Love” is considered as the first book in the English language written by a woman.
She wrote about several aspects of spiritual life.
Variants are: Juliane, Julia, Julianna, Julianne, Liana, Liane, Yuliana, Giuliana, Gillian, Julitta, Juliette.
Famous bearers are Juliana Cannarozzo, Juliana Francis, Juliana Hatfield, Juliana Lohmann, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
Additional information about the Ancient Roman naming system:
According to the Roman naming rules, the basic elements of Roman names were three. A “praenomen”, a “nomen”, and a “cognomen”.
A “praenomen” was the first name, indicating the personal name.
A “nomen” was the second name, indicating the ‘gens’ to which the bearer of the name belonged to. Gens, meaning the group of families sharing a common “nomen”.
“Nomen” would stand as the group of loosely connected families claiming common ancestors. “Nomen” were always patrilinear, meaning from the father.
A “cognomen” was the third name and was something like the surname. Cognomina (plural of cognomen) were usually inherited. They were rarely given to the bearer by general consensus by the prominent members of the community.
There were several types of “cognomina”, such as geographical, adoptive, occupational, etc. In very rare cases the “cognomina” could be metronymic, meaning from the mother’s “nomen”.