June is a female given name, but it is also used as a male given name in English-speaking countries. It comes from the name of the month, which is derived from Juno, the name of a Roman goddess. It is also a short form of the names Juniper, Junia, Junius and Junior.
June was a very popular girls name and somewhat popular boys name in the early to mid 20th century. As a girls name it reached a peak in 1925 as the 39th most popular girls name, but then gradually declined until it dropped off the top 1000 list of names in 1986. As a boys name, June reached a peak 1922 as 697th most popular boys, but then also declined and left the top 1000 list in 1939.
Junius was a popular boys name in the early 19th century, reaching a peak in 1908 as the 391st most popular boys name and leaving the 1000 list in 1950. Variant name Junious reached a peak in 1911 as the 744th most popular name and left the top 1000 list in 1923.
Junior remains a popular boys name, but reached a peak in 1925 as 117th most popular boys name.
Juniper has historically been used as both a boys and girls name. In the early part of the 20th century it was often seen as a boys name, likely due to Saint Juniper, but currently the name is more popular as a girls name. Juniper has never been on the top 1000 list, but is an increasingly popular name likely due to the popularity of a wide assortment of well known fictional works, including the cartoon series "The Life and Times of Juniper Lee", the movie "Benny and Joon" (where the Joon character was short for Juniper), and the novel "Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary".
Well known persons named June include:
June Allyson, (1917–2006) an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s
June Anderson, an American coloratura soprano
June Atkinson, the North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction
June Blair, (born 1933) an American model and actress best known for being Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in January 1957
June Bland, a British actress best known for her guest appearances in two Doctor Who serials
June Brigman, an American comic book artist and illustrator
June Bronhill, (1929–2005) an internationally acclaimed soprano opera singer
June Brown, a British actress and director best known as Dot Branning in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
June Callwood, a Canadian journalist and social activist
June Caprice, (1895–1936) an American silent film actress
June Carter Cash, (1929–2003) an American singer, songwriter, actress, member of the Carter Family, and the second wife of legendary singer Johnny Cash
June Chadwick, an English actress best known for her role in the scien television series V: The Series
June Christy, (1925–1990) an American Jazz Singer popular in the 1950s
June Clark, a Professor of Community Nursing, at the University of Wales, Swansea
June Cochran, (1942–2004) an American model and beauty queen
June Collyer, (1906–1968) an American actress
June Croft (born 1963), a British freestyle swimmer
June Downey (1875–1932), American psychologist
June Duprez, (1918–1984) a British film actress
June Ferguson, (1928–2004), an Australian athlete who won the silver medal in the relay 4x100 meter at the 1948 Olympic Games in London
June Fletcher, a writer for The Wall Street Journal
June Foray, an American voice actress who has worked for most of the studios which produced animated films since the 1940s
June Gibbons, (born 1963) one of two identical twins whose story is a curious case involving psychology and language
June Haimoff, an English environmentalist who settled in Dalyan in southwestern Turkey after her retirement
June Harding, a child and teen actress who appeared in several 1960s TV shows
June Haver, an American film actress (1926–2005)
June Havoc, (1912–2010) an American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director
June Hutton, (1920–1973) an American popular singer
June James, American football player
June Jones, an American football player and coach, currently with Southern Methodist University
June Jordan, (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) an African-American bisexual political activist, writer, poet, and teacher
June Lang, (1915–2005) an American film actress
June Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury, (1928–2006) a British paediatrician and, in retirement, a cross bench member of the House of Lords
June Lockhart, (born 1925) an American actress best known as the mothers on Lassie and Lost in Space
June MacCloy, (1909–2005) an American actress in the 1930s and 1940s
June Marlowe, (1903–1984) an American actress best known as Miss Crabtree in six Our Gang short subjects
June Maston, (born 1928) a retired Australian sprinter
June Mathis, (1892–1927) a screenwriter and Hollywood executive in the 1920s
June McCarroll, (1867–1954) a nurse (later a physician) who is credited with the idea of painting lines on highways to separate lanes
June Miller, (1902–1979) the second wife of Henry Miller
June Millington, in 1969 founded Fanny, the first all girl rock band signed to a major record label
June Page, a British actress best known as Sally in the 1970s drama Survivors
June Palmer, aka June Power, (1940–2004) a Harrison Marks model in the 1960s
June Peppas, a professional baseball player for the AAGPBL from 1948 to 1954
June Pointer, (1953–2006) an American vocalist best known for her work with The Pointer Sisters
June Rowlands, the 60th mayor of Toronto, Ontario, and the first woman to hold that office
June Salter, (1932–2001) an Australian actress
June Sarpong, a British television presenter
June C. Smith (1875-1947), an American jurist, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court
June Tabor, (born 1947) an English folk singer
June Taylor, (1918–2004) an American choreographer
June Tripp, sometimes known just as June, was a British actress
June Tyson, (1936–1992) a jazz singer who performed with Sun Ra regularly
June Vincent, (born 1920) a leading lady in low-budget movies of the 1940s
June Walker, (1900–1966) an American stage and film actress best known for her roles in The Farmer Takes a Wife and Twelfth Night
June Westbury, a politician in Manitoba, Canada
June Whitfield, an English actress