Bula
A Hindi name meaning "bubble" or "blister".
Name Census estimates that about 60 living Americans carry the first name Bula. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bula today is around 90 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bula births was 1920 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bula. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bula is about 90 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bulas were born before 1946.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bula. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
60
~ 1 in 5,712,572 Americans
Peak year
1920
43 babies that year
Average age
90
years old
1950 SSA rank
#5,383
Tracked since 1881
Census
Bula in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 172 people with the first name Bula, which placed it at #42,074 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#42,074
National first-name rank
People counted
172
172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bula
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bula is White at 59.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bula described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bula at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.9% · 103
- Black or African American21.5% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.5% · 18
- Two or more races4.7% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Bula: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bula from the 1880s through to the 1950s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 304 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bula by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bula during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bulas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Bula, while Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bula
The name Bula has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the South Slavic region of the Balkans. It is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *bulja, meaning "eye" or "bubble." This root is also present in the Serbo-Croatian word "bula," meaning "a bubble on the surface of water."
The earliest recorded use of the name Bula dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was primarily used as a masculine given name among the South Slavic populations of the Balkan region. The name was particularly prevalent in areas that are now part of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Bula can be found in the Serbian epic poetry cycle, which includes tales and legends from the medieval period. In these poems, Bula is mentioned as the name of a warrior or a ruler, though the exact historical figure behind the name is unclear.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Bula. One of the earliest recorded examples is Bula I, a Serbian ruler who governed the region of Raška (part of modern-day Serbia) in the late 12th century.
Another prominent figure was Bula Kantakouzenos, a Byzantine nobleman and military commander who lived in the 14th century. He played a significant role in the Byzantine civil wars of the 1320s and 1330s.
In the 15th century, Bula Saray was a renowned Ottoman architect who designed several significant buildings, including the Beyazit II Mosque in Istanbul, which was completed in 1506.
Moving to more recent times, Bula Hadzhi Oglu (1869-1944) was a prominent Azerbaijani playwright and novelist who made significant contributions to the development of Azerbaijani literature in the early 20th century.
Lastly, Bula Hamid (1924-2009) was a renowned Pakistani artist and calligrapher who was celebrated for his work in preserving and promoting the traditional art forms of Islamic calligraphy and miniature painting.
People
Bula + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bula as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bula: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bula?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 60 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bula going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 5,712,572 US residents.
Is Bula a common name?
We classify Bula as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,034 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bula most popular?
The single biggest year for Bula was 1920, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bula is about 90 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bula in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 172 people with the name Bula, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,074 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bula in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bula?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bula leans strongly female. 163 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 9 male bearers (5.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bula?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bula is White at 59.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bula most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bula in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.9% (103 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bula in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bula a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bula in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bula still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bula in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bula can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Bula as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.