Ulrich
A masculine name of German origin meaning "wolf power" or "noble heritage".
Name Census estimates that about 373 living Americans carry the first name Ulrich. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ulrich today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ulrich births was 2015 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ulrich. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ulrich with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
373
~ 1 in 918,912 Americans
Peak year
2015
16 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,792
Tracked since 1914
Census
Ulrich in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,266 people with the first name Ulrich, which placed it at #10,504 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
#10,504
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ulrich
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ulrich is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Ulrich 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 Ulrich at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 1,027
- Black or African American10.3% · 131
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 49
- Two or more races2.7% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Popularity
Ulrich: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ulrich from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 115 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ulrich remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ulrich 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 Ulrich during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ulrich
The name Ulrich originated from the Germanic languages, derived from the Old High German name Uolrich. It is composed of two elements - "uola" meaning wealth or prosperity, and "ric" meaning power or rule. Thus, the name Ulrich can be interpreted as "prosperous ruler" or "wealthy leader".
The name first appeared in the 7th century AD and was popular among the Germanic tribes, particularly in areas that are now parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Variations of the name include Ulric, Ulderic, and Hulrich.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Ulrich can be found in the 9th century Latin chronicle "Vita Sancti Oudalrici" (Life of Saint Ulrich), which details the life of Saint Ulrich of Augsburg, a Benedictine monk and bishop who lived from 890 to 973 AD.
In the 11th century, Ulrich von Zell was a renowned German Benedictine monk and historian who wrote the "Chronicon Monasterii Sancti Galli" (Chronicle of the Monastery of St. Gall). He lived from around 1020 to 1093 AD.
During the 12th century, Ulrich von Hutten was a German scholar, poet, and prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation. He was born in 1488 and died in 1523.
In the 13th century, Ulrich von Liechtenstein was a renowned Minnesinger (a poet and singer of courtly love lyrics) and knight from the Holy Roman Empire. He lived from around 1200 to 1275 AD.
In the 14th century, Ulrich von Richental was a Swiss chronicler and author of the "Chronik des Konstanzer Konzils" (Chronicle of the Council of Constance), which documented the Council of Constance held from 1414 to 1418. He lived from around 1360 to 1437 AD.
The name Ulrich has been associated with several notable figures throughout history, reflecting its Germanic roots and its popularity across various regions of Europe.
People
Ulrich + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ulrich as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ulrich: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ulrich?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 373 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ulrich 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 918,912 US residents.
Is Ulrich a common name?
We classify Ulrich as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 481 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ulrich most popular?
The single biggest year for Ulrich was 2015, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ulrich is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ulrich in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,266 people with the name Ulrich, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,504 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 Ulrich 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 Ulrich?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ulrich appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,270 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Ulrich?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ulrich is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Black (10.3%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Ulrich most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ulrich in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (1,027 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 Ulrich in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ulrich a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ulrich in the SSA data are male. 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 Ulrich still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ulrich 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 Ulrich 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 are named Ulrich?
Find out how many Americans are named Ulrich on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.