Ulla
Meaning and origin
Short form of Ulrika. First recorded in Sweden in 1771. Later also used as a pet form of Ursula and Hulda.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Ulla (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2007 | 3 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | – |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | – |
| 2015 | – |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 49,173 |
| 2000 | 48,586 |
| 2001 | 48,013 |
| 2002 | 47,288 |
| 2003 | 46,645 |
| 2004 | 45,960 |
| 2005 | 45,176 |
| 2006 | 44,449 |
| 2007 | 43,687 |
| 2008 | 42,956 |
| 2009 | 42,137 |
| 2010 | 41,259 |
| 2011 | 40,372 |
| 2012 | 39,407 |
| 2013 | 38,454 |
| 2014 | 37,500 |
| 2015 | 36,504 |
| 2016 | 35,371 |
| 2017 | 34,206 |
| 2018 | 33,041 |
| 2019 | 31,900 |
| 2020 | 30,546 |
Ulla in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Ulla.Hi! My name is Ulla.
- Ulla bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Ulla lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Ulla har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Ulla has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Ullas mamma är lärare.Ulla's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ullas mamma is Ulla's mum.
More names
Questions about Ulla
How do you pronounce Ulla in Swedish?
In IPA, Ulla is /²ɵla/. Press Listen at the top of the page to hear it from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Ulla mean?
Short form of Ulrika. First recorded in Sweden in 1771. Later also used as a pet form of Ursula and Hulda.
How popular is Ulla in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Ulla in 2022. In 2020, 30,546 people in Sweden had Ulla as the first name they go by.
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.