where did the word jew derived from
Another name used for the people is Children of Israel or Israelites, which refers to the fact that the people are descendants of Jacob, who was also called Israel. The word Jew (in Hebrew, Yehudi) is derived from the name Judah, which was the name of one of Jacob's twelve sons.Judah was the ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel, which was named after him. Likewise, the word Judaism literally means Judah-ism, that is, the religion of the Yehudim.rigins of the Words Jew and Judaism. The original name for the people we now call Jews was Hebrews. The word Hebrew (in Hebrew, Ivri) is first used in the Torah to describe Abraham (Gen. 14:13).