Ursula (name) explained

Ursula
Pronunciation:	pronounced as /de/
Gender:	Feminine
Language:	German, English
Language origin:	Latin
Origin:	ursa
Meaning:	"little bear"
Variant:	Uschi, Usch, Urs

Ursula is a feminine given name in several languages. The name is derived from a diminutive of the Latin ursa, which means "bear". The name was best used in the Anglosphere in the 16th century but has since been rather uncommon in English-speaking countries, although its use has been influenced since the twentieth century by the Swiss-born actress Ursula Andress (born 1936). It was among the most popular names for newborn girls in Germany from the 1920s to the 1950s.^[1] 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.^{[2] [3]}

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 Hayden (born 1966), American professional wrestler, actress, and business woman
• Ursula Haubner (born 1945), Austrian politician
• Ursula Hegi (born 1946), American author
• 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 Henderson, South Australian politician
• 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 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 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
• 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 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

Notes and References

1. https://www.beliebte-vornamen.de/hitlisten
2. Web site: Ursula - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity .
3. Web site: Baby Name Ursula: Villain or Saint? . 28 October 2023 .