Ursula is a feminine given name in several languages. The name is derived from a diminutive of the Latin ursa, which means "bear". In the English-speaking world, the name was most common in the 16th century, but has since become relatively rare, although its use has been influenced since the twentieth century by the Swiss-born actress Ursula Andress (born 1936).[1] It was among the most popular names for newborn girls in Germany from the 1920s to the 1950s.[2] Ulla, Ursel, and Uschi are German short forms of the name.
Ursula is a villain in the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid and its 2023 live-action remake The Little Mermaid.[3][4]
Other forms of the name include:
- Orsolya in Hungarian
- Úrsula in Spanish (notice the acute accent)
- Uršula in Bosnian
- Ursule in French
- Uršulė in Lithuanian
- Urszula in Polish
- Uršula / Urša / Urška in Slovenian
People named Ursula or Úrsula
- Saint Ursula (died 383)
- Ursula, theoretical founding ancestor of Haplogroup U (mtDNA)
- Ursula of Brandenburg, Duchess of Münsterberg-Oels (1450–1508), a princess of Brandenburg by birth
- Ursula of Brandenburg (1488–1510), German noblewoman
- Ursula Andress (born 1936), Swiss actress
- Ursula Appolloni (1929–1994), Canadian politician
- Ursula Bagdasarjanz (born 1934), Swiss violinist
- Ursula Bethell, Baroness Westbury (1924–2023), British noblewoman and philanthropist
- Ursula Bloom (1892–1984), British novelist
- Ursula Bright (1835–1915), British activist for married women's property rights.
- Uschi Brüning (born 1947), German jazz and soul singer and songwriter
- Ursula Buchfellner (born 1961), German model and actress
- Ursula Buckel (1925–2005), German soprano singer
- Ursula Burns (born 1958), American businesswoman
- Ursula Bühler Hedinger (1943–2009), Swiss aviation pioneer, the first woman from Switzerland to hold a license to fly a jet and first Swiss female flight instructor
- Ursula Caberta (born 1950), German politician, critic of the Church of Scientology
- Úrsula Corberó (born 1989), Spanish actress
- Lady Ursula d'Abo (1916–2017), English socialite
- Uschi Digard (born 1948), Swedish former softcore porn star and model
- Uschi Disl (born 1970), German biathlete
- Ursula Dubosarsky (born 1961), Australian writer
- Uschi Elleot (1899–1975), German stage and film actress
- Ursula Engelen-Kefer (born 1943), German labor leader
- Ursula Eriksson (born 1967), Swedish murderer accused of manslaughter in Britain
- Ursula Fanthorpe (1929–2009), British poet
- Ursula Franklin (1921–2016), Canadian metallurgist
- Uschi Freitag (born 1989), German-Dutch female diver
- Ursula Gauthier, French journalist
- Ursula Gibson, American physicist
- Uschi Glas (born 1944), German actress
- Ursula Goodenough (born 1943), American biologist and writer
- Ursula Haubner (born 1945), Austrian politician
- Ursula Haverbeck (1928–2024), German neo-Nazi activist, author, and convict
- Ursula Hayden (born 1966), American professional wrestler, actress, and business woman
- Ursula Hegi (born 1946), American author
- Ursula Henderson, South Australian politician
- Ursula Herrmann (died 1981), German female murder victim
- Ursula Kathleen Hicks, Lady Hicks (1896–1985), Irish economist and academic
- Ursula Holden-Gill (born 1974), British actress
- Ursula Howells (1922–2005), British actress
- Ursula Jeans (1906–1973), British actress
- Ursula Karven (born 1964), German actress, writer, model, and yoga instructor
- Uschi Keszler (born 1948), German figure skater
- Ursula King (born 1938), German scholar of religion
- Ursula Koch (born 1941), Swiss politician
- Ursula Kübler (1928–2010), Swiss ballerina and actress
- Ursula Ledóchowska (1865–1939), Austrian-born Polish religious leader
- Ursula Lehr (1930–2022), German academic and politician
- Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018), American author
- Ursula von der Leyen (born 1958), German politician and current president of the European Commission
- Ursula Martinez (born 1966), British writer and performer
- Úrsula Micaela Morata (1628–1703), Spanish nun
- Ursula Mommens (1908–2010), British potter
- Úrsula Murayama (born 1972) Mexican actress
- Uschi Nerke (born 1944), German actress and television presenter
- Ursula Niebuhr (1908–1997), American theologian
- Uschi Obermaier (born 1946), German model and actress
- Ursula O'Leary (1926–1993), English actress
- Ursula Plassnik (born 1956), Austrian politician
- Ursula Pole, Baroness Stafford (c. 1504 – 1570), English noblewoman
- Ursula Ratasepp (born 1982), Estonian actress
- Ursula Reit (1914–1998), German actress
- Ursula Reutner (born 1975), German linguist
- Ursula Rucker, American recording artist
- Ursula von Rydingsvard (born 1942), American sculptor
- Ursula Schäppi (born 1941), Swiss actress, playwright and comedian
- Ursula Schleicher (born 1933), German politician and harpist
- Ursula Sillge (born 1946), German sociologist and LGBT activist
- Ursula Southeil (1488–1561), English soothsayer
- Uschi Steigenberger (1951–2018), German condensed matter physicist
- Ursula Stephens (born 1954), Australian politician
- Ursula Strozynski (born 1954), German painter and graphic artist
- Ursula Vernon (born 1977), American artist and writer
- Ursula Vaughan Williams (1911–2007), British poet
- Ursula Moray Williams (1911–2006), British author
- Ursula Wyss (born 1973), Swiss economist and politician
People named Ursule
- Ursule Molinaro (1916–2000), French-American writer and translator
- Ursule Wibaut (1887–?), French Olympic footballer
Fictional characters
- Ursula the Pig Woman, proprietor of a hot food stall and public lavatory, in the 1614 play Bartholomew Fayre: A Comedy by Ben Jonson
- Ursula, in the 2004 comic strip Brewster Rockit
- Ursula, in the 2003 video game Fire Emblem
- Ursula, on the 1967 animated television series George of the Jungle and the 1997 live-action film adaptation of the same name
- Ursula, in the 1989 Studio Ghibli film Kiki's Delivery Service
- Ursula, from the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid and the 2023 live-action remake of the same name
- Ursula, in the 2006 video game Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
- Ursula, in the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
- Ursula, in the 1997 animated television series Pokémon
- Ursula, name given to Elizabeth and George Warleggan's daughter in season 4 of Poldark
- Ursula, in the 1996 film Set It Off
- Ursula, from Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Ursula, from the 2024 manga series No\Name
- Ursula Beresford Todd, in the 2013 novel Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and the 2022 TV series Life After Life based on the book
- Ursula Brangwen, in the 1915 novel The Rainbow and the 1920 novel Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
- Ursula Buffay, in the 1990s television sitcoms Mad About You and Friends
- Ursula Callistis, in the 2017 animated television series Little Witch Academia
- Ursula Hanson, a police dispatcher in the 2001 film Super Troopers
- Ursula Hartmann, from the 2006 anime/manga series Strike Witches
- Úrsula Iguarán, in the 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- Ursula Merkle, in the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie
- Úrsula (character), a protagonist of the Mexican sitcom Skimo
- Ursule Mirouët, title character of an 1841 novel by Honoré de Balzac
References
- ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 268, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
- ^ Laversuch, I.M. (December 2010), "Margarete and Sulamith under the Swastika: Girls' Names in Nazi Germany", Names: A Journal of Onomastics, 58 (4): 219–30
- ^ "Ursula - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity".
- ^ "Baby Name Ursula: Villain or Saint?". 28 October 2023.
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