Ura
Feminine
Ura is given to both — 508 girls and 70 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Ura is one of the shortest names in the American record, three letters and two syllables, YOO-ruh. It was given mostly to girls and to some boys, and in Basque the same three letters mean the water.
How old is the name Ura?
Ura first appears in US birth records in 1887 — 138 years ago. The typical Ura alive today was born around 1916, making them about 109 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Ura are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Ura most popular?
Ura peaked in 1891, reaching #796 nationally. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Ura
Our story of Ura begins in the Pyrenees, where Basque speakers say ura for the water: the ur of a stream with the article fastened to its end, the way Basque fastens its article to every noun. The same three letters turned up in American records a long way from there, as a girl's name and sometimes a boy's, in the company of Ora, Una and Ula. The two never met. But a name so short that it is almost only a vowel and a breath has room for water in it, and the Basque word is a pleasant thing to carry along.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No record explains Ura as an American first name. It sits among Ora, Una and Ula, short names of the same era, and could be related to any of them or to none; the record does not choose. In Basque, ur is water and ura is the water, a coincidence of letters rather than a source.
Pronouncing Ura
YOO-ruh
English spelling suggests YOO-ruh; OO-ruh, as in the Basque word, is also natural, so the intended sound is worth giving.
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
- 1887
- Most girls named
- 191717 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #796reached in 1891
- Change vs 1944
- −16.7%5 in 1955, 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.
Uras among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Ura are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ura 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
- Three letters, impossible to shorten and hard to misspell once seen.
- Recorded for girls and boys alike.
- Shares its letters with the Basque word for the water, a pleasant association to have.
- Said aloud it can sound like the word your, or like the start of Uranus, which schoolchildren will notice.
- People will guess at the vowel and at the spelling, Ora or Urah, so both will need giving.
- It leans to girls in the record, so a boy named Ura is the rarer case, and forms may guess wrong; it is easily put right.
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Ura
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Uras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Ura are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Ura in 2025?
- Ura is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Ura with classmates?
- Ura will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More U names
The most-given names starting with U, all years combined.
Ursula#4661 · Unknown#3249 · Una#3211 · Unique#2438 · Uma#2998 · Ula#14942 · Uriah#4546 · Unity#4460
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ura? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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