Bulah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Beulah.
Name Census estimates that about 248 living Americans carry the first name Bulah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bulah today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bulah births was 1919 (115 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bulah. 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 Bulah is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Bulahs were born before 1951.
People living today
248
~ 1 in 1,382,074 Americans
Peak year
1919
115 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1963 SSA rank
#5,356
Tracked since 1880
Census
Bulah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 272 people with the first name Bulah, which placed it at #31,478 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
#31,478
National first-name rank
People counted
272
272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bulah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bulah is White at 55.5%. The next largest groups are Black (39.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.5%). 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 Bulah 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 Bulah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.5% · 151
- Black or African American39.7% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 4
- Two or more races1.5% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
Popularity
Bulah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bulah from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 874 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
Bulah 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 Bulah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bulahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas recorded the most babies named Bulah, while West Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bulah
The name Bulah is of uncertain origin, with no clear consensus on its linguistic roots or cultural background. Some suggest it may have derived from the Hebrew name Bullah, which means "to be known" or "to be famous." Others theorize it could be a variation of the Old English name Bealdah, meaning "bold" or "brave." However, concrete historical evidence linking Bulah to these potential sources is lacking.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Bulah date back to the late 19th century in the United States. It gained modest popularity as a female given name in certain regions, particularly in the American South and Midwest. However, the name never achieved widespread use or prominence.
One of the earliest known individuals bearing the name Bulah was Bulah Lipes (1870-1952), an American educator and writer from Missouri. She authored several books on teaching methods and was involved in educational organizations during the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Bulah Patterson (1888-1976), an American author and poet from Oklahoma. She published several collections of poetry, including "Songs of the Sorrow Age" in 1915, which explored themes of nature and rural life.
In the field of music, Bulah Ritchie (1882-1969) was an American soprano and vaudeville performer from Ohio. She had a successful career on the vaudeville circuit in the early 1900s, known for her rich vocal talents.
On the artistic front, Bulah Liles (1897-1968) was an American painter and printmaker from Texas. She was known for her landscapes and scenes depicting life in the American Southwest during the early to mid-20th century.
Another individual of note was Bulah Sibert (1879-1963), an American businesswoman and philanthropist from Indiana. She was involved in various charitable organizations and made significant contributions to educational and community initiatives in her home state.
While the name Bulah has largely faded from use in recent decades, these historical figures serve as a reminder of its presence, albeit modest, in various fields throughout the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries across different regions of the United States.
People
Bulah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bulah 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
Bulah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bulah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bulah 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 1,382,074 US residents.
Is Bulah a common name?
We classify Bulah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bulah most popular?
The single biggest year for Bulah was 1919, when 115 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bulah is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bulah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 272 people with the name Bulah, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,478 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 Bulah 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 Bulah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bulah leans strongly female. 266 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Bulah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bulah is White at 55.5%. The next largest groups are Black (39.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.5%). 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 Bulah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bulah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.5% (151 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 Bulah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bulah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bulah 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 Bulah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bulah 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 Bulah 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 Americans are named Bulah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.