Meaning and background
The story behind Ursula
Ursula is a long-established given name derived from Latin *ursa*, 'female bear', with a diminutive ending: 'little bear'. The legend of Saint Ursula contributed to its European use, although the story is not a reliable account of the name's creation. As a dog's name, Ursula has a more formal, literary sound than Ursa, but the two share a recognisable Latin root.
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About Ursula
Recorded as a dog’s name
Ursula appears in 5 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/ɝsələ/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/ɝsələ/ · primary stress on syllable 1ER1 S AH0 L AH0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.