Disambiguation: for the town in Hungary see Gyula (town)

Gyula was originally a Turkic word which entered the Hungarian language at some point before 950 CE. Under the system of dual kingship which the Magyars used in the 9th century, the two kings of the tribal confederation were the kende (or kündü) and the gyula. While the former was the nominal leader, the latter was the chief warlord or military commander. At the time of the settlement of the Magyars in the Carpathian Basin, the kende was Kurszán while the gyula was Álmos and then his son Árpád. Kurszán was killed during a raid in 904 and Árpád became the sole ruler of the nation. After having secured the succession for his son Zoltán, he conferred the office of gyula on another tribal chief.

This is probably how the word gyula came to used as the title of the semi-indepedendent ruler of Transylvania in the 10th century. The gyula of Transylvania and the horka of western Transdanubia held a rank in Hungarian society second only to the fejedelem (ruling prince), and slightly above the rank of úr which was used to refer to the other tribal chieftains, who each ruled as prince in their own domain. The title gyula is sometimes translated into English as duke, which is a not entirely equivalent as Hungary at this time was still a tribal society based on kinship ties rather than a feudal society.

The title Gyula was adopted as a given name sometime after the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. It is possible that during the 10th century some of the holders of the title also used Gyula as a personal name, but the issue has been confused because the chronicler of one of the most important primary sources - the Gesta Hungarorum- in a number of instances used titles or even names of places as personal names. The main uses of Gyula as a personal name are:

• Gyula (Geula or Gyyla in the Gesta Hungarorum) was possibly the name of the gyula of Transylvania who was baptised in Constantinople in 953 and brought back with him the Greek monk Hierotheus who had been ordained as bishop of Turkia (Hungary). Gyula also received missionaries in his domains along the river Tisza. This Gyula is probably also the father of Sarolt who married the ruling prince Géza. Although born a pagan, Sarolt (whose name is of Turkic origin) was brought up as a christian.
• Gyula was the uncle of Vajk and the gyula of Transylvania when the latter was baptised and crowned King of Hungary in 1000. Gyula continued to operate as an independent ruler antagonising Stephen by giving refuge to the latter's political and religious opponents and maintining control of the economically important Transylvanian salt mines. When Stephen led an army into Transylvania in 1003, Gyula surrendered without a fight.
• Gyula was revived in the 19th century in Hungary as a male given name. It is often associated with the Latin name Julius.