Trula
Feminine · “strength”
The likeliest ancestor of this name is Gertrude, cut at the back and given an ending. Trude was the ordinary short form for centuries; add an a and the German shape disappears entirely, which is very often the point of an American respelling of a German name.
How old is the name Trula?
Trula first appears in US birth records in 1893 — 132 years ago. The typical Trula alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 600 people named Trula are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Trula most popular?
Trula peaked in 1912, reaching #868 nationally. See the whole 1912 chart.
Where it comes from
From Gertrude to Trula
The story of Trula
The letters land on a genuine Latin word with a satisfying afterlife. A trulla was a small ladle or scoop, and the same word narrowed and hardened into the Late Latin term for a mason's tool — from which English gets trowel, by way of French. So a bricklayer's trowel and a Roman soup ladle are the same object under one name, separated by the fact that both are flat things with handles used for moving something soft. There is no reason to think a family in Missouri had any of this in mind, and it remains the only thing this particular string of letters has ever meant in any language.
Meaningscholars disagree
strength, at some remove
If the source is Gertrude, the surviving element is the one meaning strength, and the spear at the front of that name has been lost. If the name was built independently on the English word true, it means what that word means. Neither can be established.
How the name formed
- Gertrude
- Trude
- Trula
Pronouncing Trula
TROO-luh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The spelling is unambiguous and nobody meeting it hesitates.
Nicknames for Trula
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1893
- Most girls named
- 192558 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #868reached in 1912
- Change vs 1978
- −16.7%5 in 1982, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Trulas among us
people named Trula are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Trula sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, soft and easy to say on first hearing.
- The spelling follows the sound exactly with nothing to explain.
- It is genuinely rare and has no competing associations.
- The origin is not settled and no meaning can be given with confidence.
- It is one letter from the English word true and will be heard as related.
- The generation that used it is now very old.
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What they receive
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Trula
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Trulas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Trula are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Trula in 2025?
- Trula is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Trula with classmates?
- Trula will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Teresa#908 · Theresa#1548 · Tiffany#878 · Tammy#3645 · Taylor#403 · Tina#2778 · Tracy#2153 · Thelma#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Trula? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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