Ursel
A short German form tied to Urszula, from a Germanic root meaning "little bear". Only 11 women in Poland carry it and none have been given it since at least 2000, so most Poles will never meet one.
Ursel Pronunciation
Ursel is pronounced OOR-sel (/ˈursɛl/).
What Ursel means
Where Ursel comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Ursel comes to Poland by way of German, a short form of Ursula. Its meaning is little bear, in Polish niedźwiedziczka. The origin is Germanic, and German families reached for Ursel where Polish records would keep the fuller Urszula. The ending -el marks a German diminutive, the same suffix behind Gretel and Hänsel.
In Poland that variant, Urszula, is the one people know, with Ula as the everyday diminutive. Picture a school register in September: one Urszula on paper, answering to Ula by lunchtime. Ursel stays nearer the German side of the family.
The bear in the name is a small one. It is a creature named with fondness. No threat lives in it. The short meaning holds across every form, from Ursel to Urszula to Ula: niedźwiedziczka, little bear.
How many people are named Ursel
1 in 2049439 women in Poland is named Ursel. 11 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #15587 among female names.
Ursel as a middle name
Ursel is a first name for 11 women in Poland and a middle name for another 4, a 73/27 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 4468th, between Unathi (4) and Varaidzo (4).
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#4466 Ulina4
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#4467 Unathi4
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#4468 Ursel4
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#4469 Varaidzo4
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#4470 Veena4