Given name & surname
Ulla
“a willful woman”
Ulla is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “a willful woman.”
Original GermanUrsula
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “a willful woman.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
How it developed
In Scandinavian use, Ulla is used as an affectionate form of Ulrika.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1899. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In Swedish use, Ulla is an affectionate form of Hulda. The history of Hulda gives this family its wider story. In biblical tradition, Hulda is the name of a prophetess.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Ulla appears in 1 Chronicles 7:39.
From biblical name research
Ulla through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 105
- 0 boys · 105 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 8 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #11,851 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 11,851 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 779 as a first name in 2020; 155 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ulla’s family of names
In Swedish usage, Ulla is an affectionate form of Ursula. In Swedish usage, Ulla has a conventional equivalent in the English form Ulrica. In Swedish usage, Ulla has a conventional equivalent in the German form Ursula.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ulla has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Germanwhere Ulla comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 8
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 9
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
- Elishares a root
- Aliahshares a root
- Elyonshares a root
- Alianshares a root
- Alvanshares a root
- Alvahshares a root
- Tidalshares a root
- Elulshares a root
Show 1 moreShow fewer
People named Ulla
- Ulla JacobssonSwedish actress (1929-1982)
- Ulla PiaDanish singer1945–2020
- Ulla WerbrouckFlemish politician and former judokaborn 1972
- Ulla SchmidtGerman politician (SPD)born 1949
- Ulla WeigerstorferMiss World 1987born 1967
- Birgitta AnderssonSwedish actress and comedian1933–2026
- Ulla SalzgeberGerman equestrianborn 1958
- Ulla TørnæsDanish politicianborn 1962
- Ulla WiesnerGerman singerborn 1940
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ulla, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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