Urszula
A feminine Polish name derived from Ursula, meaning "little female bear".
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Urszula. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Urszula today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Urszula births was 1968 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Urszula. 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 Urszula with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Urszula. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1968
5 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1968 SSA rank
#8,142
Tracked since 1968
Census
Urszula in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,916 people with the first name Urszula, which placed it at #7,791 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
#7,791
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,916 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
99.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Urszula
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Urszula is White at 99.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.4%) and Two or More Races (0.1%). 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 Urszula 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 Urszula at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.4% · 1,904
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 8
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
- Black or African American0.1% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Urszula: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Urszula 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 Urszula during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0 | 5 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Urszula
Urszula is a feminine given name of Polish origin, derived from the Latin name "Ursula". The name Ursula is believed to have originated from the Latin word "ursa", meaning "she-bear". It was a popular name among early Christian martyrs.
The name Urszula gained widespread recognition due to the legend of Saint Ursula, a British princess who, according to the Catholic tradition, was martyred along with 11,000 virgin companions in Cologne, Germany, during the 4th or 5th century. This legend contributed significantly to the popularity of the name across Europe, particularly in Catholic regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Urszula can be found in the Polish chronicles from the 12th century. The name was commonly used among the Polish nobility and gentry during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Urszula. One of the earliest examples is Saint Ursula of Brabant (1030-1126), a Flemish nun and mystic who founded several monasteries in Belgium. Another prominent figure was Urszula Ledóchowska (1865-1939), a Polish nun and founder of the Ursuline Sisters of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus.
In the realm of arts and literature, Urszula Kochanowska (1554-1594) was a Polish poet and translator, known for her contributions to the Polish Renaissance literature. Urszula Gräfin von Mengden (1683-1746) was a German writer and translator who played a significant role in the literary circles of her time.
Urszula Radwańska (born 1990) is a contemporary Polish professional tennis player who has achieved notable success on the WTA Tour, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 28 in the world.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Urszula throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and time periods.
People
Urszula + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Urszula 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
Urszula: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Urszula?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Urszula 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Urszula a common name?
We classify Urszula as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Urszula most popular?
The single biggest year for Urszula was 1968, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Urszula is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Urszula in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,916 people with the name Urszula, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,791 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 Urszula 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 Urszula?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Urszula appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,917 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Urszula?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Urszula is White at 99.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.4%) and Two or More Races (0.1%). 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 Urszula most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Urszula in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.4% (1,904 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 Urszula in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Urszula a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Urszula 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 Urszula still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Urszula 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 Urszula 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 Urszula?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.