Zula
A Slavic pet form of Zuzanna, carrying its meaning of "lily". Fewer than 30 people in Poland use it, so most Poles have never met one: it works more as an affectionate nickname than a name on its own.
Zula Pronunciation
Zula is pronounced ZOO-lah (/ˈzula/).
What Zula means
Where Zula comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Zula is a Polish short form of Zuzanna, and it keeps the diminutive Zuzia close in the same family. The name sounds Slavic in the mouth, soft and quick, easy to call across a room.
The sense of "lily" did not begin with Zula. It arrived through Zuzanna, which traces to the Hebrew shoshana, the word for the flower. The lily came later. So Zula holds a meaning it inherited from the longer name rather than one it started with.
The interwar stage carried a famous Zula. Zula Pogorzelska, born Zofia, was one of the biggest cabaret and revue stars of 1920s Warsaw, and writers like Julian Tuwim wrote songs for her before her death in 1936.
In a class register today a Zula might sit a line apart from a Zuzia, though the two grew from one stem. She shares Zuzanna's imieniny as well. The flower behind all of them is the lily.
How many people are named Zula
1 in 777374 women in Poland is named Zula. 29 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #7773 among female names.
Zula's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Where Zula is most popular
Zula is most popular in Masovian, 510% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025).
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Masovian2 girls born+510%
Zula as a middle name
Zula is a first name for 29 women in Poland and a middle name for another 9, a 76/24 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 2679th, between Zarina (9) and Śnieżana (9).
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#2677 Yulia9
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#2678 Zarina9
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#2679 Zula9
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#2680 Śnieżana9
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#2681 Abdulhameed8