Ulrich

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ulrich is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name41K records spelled Ulrich8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo - Kinshasa, Cameroon

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Ülrich, Ulrîch, Ulrìch, Űlřích, Ulriçh

• Portuguese given name33K records spelled Ulrich8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Switzerland, United States, Argentina

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Ülríčh, Ūlrich, Ulrĩch, Ûlríçh, Ülrich

• Polish given name12K records spelled Ulrich7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak

  Also written Oldr̆ich, Oldřích, Oldŕich, Oldričh

• Finnish given name1.2K records spelled Ulrich4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Switzerland, Estonia, United States

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Úlrïch, Ülrîčh

• Croatian given name1.0K records spelled Ulrich14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, Switzerland, United States, Bulgaria

  Languages: Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian

  Also written Ulrih, Улрих, Ulrikh

81 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ulrich is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, from Germanic *uodal- 'heritage' + *rīk- 'power'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, From the personal name Ulrich; plate shows vowel/length variation in spellings (U/V, short/long vowels, umlaut-like forms).

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

• In German, a male given name from Old High German Uodalrich, popular in Germany since the Middle Ages, feminine equivalent Ulrike, equivalent to English Ulric, Danish Ulrik, Norwegian Ulrik, or Swedish Ulrik

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, Patronym zu ahd. uodal/als. odal „Erbgut, Besitz“ + ahd. rihhi/als. rīki „Herrschaft; mächtig“; lange/ungelehnte Stammvokal-Schreibung, 10238 Belege.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

• In German, Aus dem Rufnamen Ulrich/Uodalrich; die Karte zeigt Kürzung und Vokalvariation in den Schreibungen Ulrich, Ullrich, Ullerich, Ulreich.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 66 years between 1914–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Huldrych Zwinglib. 1484CHnot in their usual nameProtestant Reformation leader in Switzerland, Swiss Reformed Church founder (1484-1531)
• Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorffb. 1848DEGerman classical philologist (1848-1931)
• Joachim von Ribbentropb. 1893DEnot in their usual nameGerman Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany (1893–1946)
• Peter Weissb. 1916DEnot in their usual nameSwedish-German playwright and author (1916–1982)
• Ulrich Beckb. 1944DEGerman sociologist & scholar (1944–2015)
• Eckhart Tolleb. 1948DEnot in their usual nameGerman spiritual teacher and author
• Uli Hoeneßb. 1952DEnot in their usual nameGerman football executive (born 1952)
• Ulrich Müheb. 1953DEGerman actor (1953–2007)
• Ulrich Tukurb. 1957DEGerman actor and musician
• Ulrich Thomsenb. 1963DKDanish actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 472 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ulrich?

We estimate roughly 5.8 thousand people bear Ulrich (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Ulrich have the most bearers?

Ulrich is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled ulrich.

How common is Ulrich compared with other names?

In Germany, Ulrich is the 76th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Ulrich a male or female name?

Ulrich is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ulrich mean?

Recorded meaning: from Germanic ūdal 'heritage' + rīhhi 'powerful'; source of uzen