Ursula (first name)

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Ursula is a female given name .

Origin and meaning

Ursula is of Latin origin (from ursus , bear 'with a feminine diminutive - suffix -ula ) and actually means' little she-bear'. It is probably a loan translation of the Celtic name Artula (Celtic artos , bear '), as the bilingual inscription from Trier (CIL XIII 3909) shows. The veneration of St. Ursula of Cologne in the Middle Ages contributed to the spread of the name . The male equivalent is the first name Urs .

distribution

According to a ranking list compiled by Sara L. Uckelman from Amsterdam about the frequency of maiden names in Germany in the 15th century, the name Ursula and the pet form Ursel derived from it were in 16th place.

According to an evaluation by Knud Bielefelden, the name Ursula was one of the most common first names in Germany between 1920 and 1950 and was the most popular German maiden name between 1923 and 1932. After that, and especially since the 1960s , its spread has been steadily decreasing.

name day

St. Ursula as a protective cloak figure

In the regional calendar for the German-speaking area , October 21 is a non-mandatory day of remembrance in honor of St. Ursula . The feast of St. Ursula was deleted from the general Roman calendar in 1970, but it is still the high festival in Cologne .

The farmer should have brought in the entire harvest by Ursula Day. There is also a weather rule for this day :

“As the Ursula Day begins, so should the winter be”.

Patron saint

  • The city of Cologne has St. Ursula as its patron saint. An important church in Cologne - St. Ursula - is dedicated to her.
  • In honor of their patron saint St. Ursula there is a large Ursula column in Offenburg (Baden).
  • St. Ursula ( sainte Ursule ) is also the patron saint of the Sorbonne , the most famous and oldest university in Paris.

variants

Name bearers

Ursula

Ursela

Ursulina

swell

  1. Female first names in the Middle Ages , from Popular-vornamen.de , accessed on March 14, 2019.
  2. Hitlists Germany - Statistics of the most common first names for each year of birth , from Popular-vornamen.de , accessed on March 14, 2019.
  3. Ursula , from Popular-vornamen.de , accessed on March 14, 2019.
  4. Ursula , from Popular-vornamen.de , accessed on March 14, 2019.
  5. Born in 1932 , from Popular-vornamen.de , accessed on March 14, 2019.
  6. Ursula , on Popular-vornamen.de .