# Ursula (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ursula/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɝ.sə.lə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 14,811 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 14,811 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 484, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Latin Ursula, the name of a fourth century saint. Via Proto-Indo-European *h₂ŕ̥tḱos cognate with Arcady.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 26 | 5,348 |
| 2012 | 27 | 5,246 |
| 2013 | 30 | 4,745 |
| 2014 | 24 | 5,620 |
| 2015 | 41 | 3,756 |
| 2016 | 30 | 4,726 |
| 2017 | 33 | 4,376 |
| 2018 | 29 | 4,762 |
| 2019 | 23 | 5,603 |
| 2020 | 28 | 4,747 |
| 2021 | 34 | 4,235 |
| 2022 | 25 | 5,294 |
| 2023 | 39 | 3,906 |
| 2024 | 25 | 5,282 |
| 2025 | 29 | 4,747 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 18 | 1,608 |
| 2012 | 23 | 1,387 |
| 2013 | 22 | 1,433 |
| 2014 | 20 | 1,501 |
| 2015 | 18 | 1,649 |
| 2016 | 18 | 1,689 |
| 2017 | 9 | 2,706 |
| 2018 | 12 | 2,187 |
| 2019 | 10 | 2,458 |
| 2020 | 11 | 2,300 |
| 2021 | 13 | 2,073 |
| 2022 | 8 | 2,888 |
| 2023 | 11 | 2,346 |
| 2024 | 10 | 2,574 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

## In other languages

- Catalan: Úrsula
- Czech: Uršula, Voršila
- Esperanto: Ursula
- Estonian: Ursula
- French: Ursule
- German: Ursula
- Greek: Ούρσουλα, Ουρσούλα
- Hungarian: Orsolya
- Irish: Ursula
- Italian: Orsola, Ursula
- Japanese: ウルスラ, アーシュラ
- Lithuanian: Uršulė
- Polish: Urszula
- Portuguese: Úrsula
- Russian: Урсу́ла
- Slovak: Uršuľa
- Slovene: Urška
- Spanish: Úrsula
- Ukrainian: Урсула
- Vietnamese: U-xu-la

## People named Ursula

- Ursula K. Le Guin, American fantasy and science fiction author (1929–2018)
- Saint Ursula, Frankish saint
- Ursula Karven, German actress and author
- Ursula Franklin, Canadian metallurgist, research physicist, author, and educator (1921–2016)
- Ursula Burns, American businessperson
- Ursula Meier, French-Swiss film director and actress
- Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician, diplomat, foreign minister
- Ursula Donath, East German middle distance runner (born 1931)
- Ursula Haverbeck, German Holocaust denier
- Ursula Holl, German footballer
- Ursula Lehr, German academic and politician
- Ursula Thiess, German actress (1924-2010)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.