Ulla

#11,847 in 2025Girls' name

Heritage, homestead + ruler, through Ulrika

Ulla has been given to 105 babies in the U.S. since 1899. In 2025 it ranked #11,847 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Ulla, 2025

1 in 414,000

Ulla over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ulla: meaning, origin, and history

Heritage, homestead + ruler, through Ulrika

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ulla means

Ulla belongs to the name family reached through Ulla → Ulla → Ulrika → Ulrik → Ulrich. Its meaning is “heritage, homestead + ruler”.

Origin, language, and formation

Ulla is used in Danish, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish and Swedish.

Ulla comes through Swedish Ulla.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ulrikke, Ulrika, Ursula, Ulla, Ulrik and Ulrich.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Finnish, Ulla is pronounced /ˈulːɑ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 105 girls were recorded with the name Ulla between 1899 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 8 in 2025; its best national rank was #1,820 in 1899.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #13,372 in 2020 to #11,847 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #18,913 in 2015 to #11,847 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ulla?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 414,000; 8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 201,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #11,847; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 287,238 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Ulla sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ulla. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ullas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ulla was born before 1975 — so the typical Ulla is around 50 today.

Median birth year: 1975; About 50 years old
Biggest decade: 2020s; 25.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 46.7%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 80; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2020s — 25.7% of all recorded uses (27).

Is Ulla rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: +1,525; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +7,066; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.60×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 100.0%; Peak was 2025 (8)
Years since peak: Peaking now; At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 14.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,820; 1899

Spellings of Ulla

Ulla is not the most common spelling — Julia is, with 19.1% against Ulla's <0.01%.

Julia19.1%476,250
Ella14.1%351,313
Alma6.6%163,723
Lola3.9%96,892
Lula3.4%85,248
Mila3.4%84,489
Bella3.4%83,721
Lila3.1%76,493

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Ulla around the world

Where Ulla ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
1999–2023
#5,688
in 2023
France
1968–1988
#3,130
in 1988
Norway
1880–2025
#364
in 2025
South Australia
1950–1969
#731
in 1969

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Ulla by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #11,847
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 1,525
Best rank ever: #1,820; 1899
Peak year: 2025; 8 that year
First recorded: 1899
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 105
Count in 2025: 8

Names similar to Ulla

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Avella Azella Miella Lylla Riella Aylla Diella Kalla Ciella Maella Nyella Eulla Myella Nalla Tilla Ryella Mayella Talulla Cella Eriella Breella Alla Pella Scylla

Sibling names for Ulla

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Annabell Abagail Sydni Leonor Shyann Sydnie Karleigh Rhianna

For a brother

Aaden Kale Evans Hamilton Caesar Brennen Tobin Jerimiah

Explore around Ulla

Top names of 2025, Ulla's peak year The 2020s in full Other names that peaked in 1899 Girls' names starting with U Estonian Girl Names Uncommon Danish Girl Names Uncommon Swedish Girl Names