URSULA  

Gender: F
Origin: Latin
Meaning: "little female bear"

Today's kids will probably associate this with the campy, corpulent octopus in Disney's The Little Mermaid, while their parents might consider it too Germanic, though it has a noteworthy literary background.

Variations:
Orsola, Orsa, Ursella, Ursulette, Orsel, Irsaline, Ursa, Ursuline, Ursley, Ursilla, Ursola, Ursela, Ursillane, Orsala, Ursely, Irsala, Ursie, Ursy, Ursala

International Variations:
Vorsila (Czech) Sula, Ulli, Urmi (Estonian) Ulla, Urse (German) Urzula (Latvian) Ursule (Romanian) Ursulina (Spanish)

Ursula is being discussed in our message boards:

• What are your first thoughts?
• Yaaaay! A family,you have always dreamed of!
• Cheaper By the Dozen
• New Babies Coming?
• Sister for Anthony & Miranda

Read Nameberry blog posts about Ursula:

• OLD LADY NAMES: Ready for the Next Wave?
• HEROINE NAMES: Worthy Women with Notable Names, Part 2: Cultural Icons
• MIDDLE NAMES: The Strange, The Ordinary, and The Embarrassing
• HARRY POTTER NAMES: Beyond Harry & Hermione
• U NAME IT: Utterly unusual, unique and underused 'U' names