Orsolya Explained

Orsolya
Gender:	feminine
Meaning:	"little bear"
Language:	Hungarian
Language origin:	Latin
Nickname:	Orsi, Orsika
Cognate:	Ursula
Anglicisation:	Ursula
Name Day:	October 21

Orsolya is a Hungarian variant of Ursula meaning "little bear" or "bear cub", derived from a diminutive form of the Latin word ursa "she-bear". Saint Ursula was a legendary virgin princess of the 4th century who was martyred by the Huns while returning from a pilgrimage. Today the story of Saint Ursula is overwhelmingly considered to be fiction. In England the saint was popular during the Middle Ages, and the name came into general use at that time.^[1]

Famous Hungarian females who share the same given name:

• Orsolya Dersffy (1583–1619), Hungarian noblewoman
• Orsolya Drozdik (born 1946), Hungarian feminist visual artist
• Orsolya Herr (born 1984), Hungarian handball player
• Orsolya Karalyos (born 1991), Hungarian handball player
• Orsolya Kasó (born 1988), Hungarian female water polo goalkeeper
• Orsolya Kocsis (born 1984), Hungarian fashion, glamour model
• Orsolya Nagy (born 1977), Hungarian fencer
• Orsolya Szegedi (born 1989), Hungarian handball player
• Orsolya Takács (born 1985), Hungarian water polo player
• Orsolya Tóth (born 1981), Hungarian actress
• Orsolya Vérten (born 1982), Hungarian handball player

Notes and References

1. Web site: Meaning, origin and history of the name Ursula.