Jewel

Jewel means, well, jewel. That is, a precious stone or gem. Back in the 1800's it was fashionable to use gem names as names for babies--mostly for girls, but in some cases for boys. Jewel is one of these names (though others were more specific, such as Ruby or Beryl.) The popularity of the name Jewel carried over from the 1800's into the 1900's, and the name was somewhat in use in the United States through the 1960's. After that, it disappeared from the U.S. top 1000 baby names until 1997, when it shot suddenly to #667. The reason for the reappearance of the name is most likely due to the popularity of the singer Jewel. The revival of the name hasn't been overwhelming, and its use has been declining steadily since 1998. Many people, rather than thinking of Jewel as a name in its own right, tend to think of it as a nickname for Julie or Julia, but by the same token, there is really no reason that a girl named Jewel could not use Julie as a nickname.