Find out how popular the last name Ulrich is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ulrich.

Ulrich, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ulrich surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ulrich in America

Ulrich is the 2180th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ulrich surname appeared 16,668 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Ulrich.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ulrich to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ulrich

The surname Ulrich originated in Germany and can be traced back to the 8th century AD. It derives from the Old German words "uodal" meaning "ancestral heritage" and "ric" meaning "ruler". The name was likely used to denote someone who owned land or property inherited from their ancestors.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ulrich comes from the Cartularium Prumiense, a medieval cartulary from the Prüm Abbey in present-day Germany, which mentions an "Uodalricus" in the year 816. The name also appears in the Codex Traditionum of the Benedictine abbey of Reichenau, dating back to the 9th century.

During the Middle Ages, variations of the name such as Ulricus, Odalricus, and Udalricus were common across Germanic regions. The name was particularly popular among the nobility and aristocracy, with notable bearers including Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523), a German knight, scholar, and prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation.

Another significant historical figure with the surname Ulrich was Johann Jakob Ulrich (1732-1800), a Swiss theologian and philologist who made significant contributions to the study of ancient languages and literature. He is known for his work on the translation and interpretation of the Bible.

In the 19th century, the name Ulrich gained prominence in the field of science with the birth of Adolf Ulrich (1849-1925), a German chemist who made important discoveries in the field of organic chemistry, particularly in the synthesis of indigo dye.

Other notable individuals with the surname Ulrich include Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born 1938), an American historian and author known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book "A Midwife's Tale", and Robert Ulrich (1905-1965), an American actor and film director who appeared in numerous westerns and war films during the 1930s and 1940s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ulrich

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ulrich.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ulrich was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ulrich has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ulrich was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ulrich, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!