Ursule
Feminine variant of the Latin name Ursula meaning "little female bear".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Ursule. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ursule today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ursule births was 1900 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ursule. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ursule. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1900
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1900 SSA rank
#1,914
Tracked since 1900
Popularity
Ursule: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ursule 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 Ursule during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ursule
The name Ursule is derived from the Late Latin name Ursula, which itself comes from a Latinized form of the Gothic name Yrsuleis. The Gothic name is thought to be derived from the Germanic elements "urs" meaning "bear" and "hveila" meaning "little". Together, the name could be interpreted as meaning "little bear".
The name Ursula first gained widespread popularity due to the Christian legend of Saint Ursula, a semi-legendary Romano-British princess who was martyred by the Huns in Cologne, Germany around 383 AD. According to tradition, she was killed along with her company of 11,000 virgin missionary companions. Despite questions around the factual basis of the legend, Ursula became one of the most widely venerated saints in medieval Europe.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Ursula of Nuremberg (1109-1198), a German abbess who was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1711. Ursula of Scotland (c. 1075-1173) was an Anglo-Norman princess who married King David I and became Queen consort of Scotland.
Another notable Ursula was Ursula Pole (1504-1570), an English Catholic martyr and descendant of King Edward IV. She was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1935. Ursula Åkesson (1545-1623) was a Swedish landowner and politician who served as the Governor of Älvsborg County.
In more recent times, Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) was an acclaimed American author of novels, children's books, and short stories, known for works such as A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness. She was a major figure in the realm of science fiction and fantasy literature.
People
Ursule + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ursule 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
Ursule: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ursule?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ursule 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 - US residents.
Is Ursule a common name?
We classify Ursule as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ursule most popular?
The single biggest year for Ursule was 1900, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ursule is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ursule in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ursule a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ursule 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 Ursule still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ursule 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 Ursule 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Ursule?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.