Ula
A short form of Urszula that stands on its own, carrying the Slavic sense "little she-bear". Barely sixty Polish women use it, though a handful of newborns each year is nudging it back upward.
Ula Pronunciation
Ula is pronounced OO-lah (/ˈula/).
What Ula means
Where Ula comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Ula is a Slavic short form, and its longer shape is Urszula. The meaning people attach to it is "little she-bear", mała niedźwiedziczka in Polish. That bear did not begin in Slavic ground. It arrives through Urszula, whose older Latin root is ursa, a female bear. So the animal reached Ula by way of the longer name.
Ula answers fast. Three letters on a school register, quick to write and quick to call. The short form has long lived on its own in Poland, well past serving as a nickname for Urszula.
Beside it sit the variant urshulya and the full Urszula. The Church marks Saint Ursula on 21 October, and that date holds Urszula's imieniny across Poland. So Ula keeps a fixed day in the calendar. Whoever calls Ula calls a little she-bear.
How many people are named Ula
1 in 357839 women in Poland is named Ula. 63 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4645 among female names.
Ula's popularity over time
5 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #969 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2024.
Where Ula is most popular
Ula is most popular in Warmian-Masurian, 502% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025), followed by West Pomeranian (+412%) and Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+295%).
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Warmian-Masurian2 girls born+502%
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West Pomeranian2 girls born+412%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian2 girls born+295%
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Pomeranian2 girls born+193%
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Masovian2 girls born+22%
Ula as a middle name
Ula is a first name for 63 women in Poland and a middle name for another 27, a 70/30 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1390th, between Tessa (27) and Valentyna (27).
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#1388 Tamar27
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#1389 Tessa27
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#1390 Ula27
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#1391 Valentyna27
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#1392 Vesna27