Fun Facts About the Name Ulis
- 256 babies named Ulis: U.S. records list 256 babies given the name Ulis from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Ulis Mean?
Ulis is best explained as a shortened form of Ulysses (Spanish Ulises), which comes from the Latin Ulixes, the Roman name for the Greek hero Odysseus. The meaning of that source name is uncertain. Greek writers linked Odysseus to odyssasthai, "to be angry with" or "to hate," giving a traditional sense such as "wrathful" or "hated," but other roots have been proposed and no derivation is settled. Since Ulis is a clipping, it inherits that uncertainty rather than carrying a meaning of its own.
A similar-looking German short form, Uli, belongs to Ulrich and Ulrike and is a separate name; it should not be merged with Ulis.
Ulis Name History & Origins
The name behind Ulis moved from Greek to Latin to the modern European languages. Greek Odysseus became Ulixes in Latin, and English took the Latin form as Ulysses, while Spanish and Portuguese use Ulises and Ulisses. The clipped form Ulis simply drops the ending shared by those longer forms. The hero's name reached wide audiences through Homer's Odyssey and, much later, through James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses, but Ulis itself is a familiar-speech shortening rather than a literary creation.
In modern use Ulis appears as both a given name and a surname, chiefly in the United States; the American sprinter Ulis Williams (born 1941) is one bearer of the given name. It is generally understood in relation to the longer forms Ulysses and Ulises rather than as a distinct coinage with its own documented line of development.
How Popular is the Name Ulis?
Ulis has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1927. Its best rank was #1,820 in 1910.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | #5,392 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1960 | #3,643 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1950 | #4,159 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1948 | #4,158 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1944 | #2,458 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1943 | #4,003 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1941 | #3,114 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1940 | #3,114 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1938 | #3,155 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1937 | #3,157 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1936 | #4,009 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1933 | #2,723 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1932 | #4,237 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1931 | #3,728 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1930 | #3,573 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1929 | #4,498 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1928 | #3,063 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1927 | #1,953 | 18 | 0.0016% |
| 1926 | #2,713 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1925 | #3,131 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1924 | #3,012 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1923 | #2,761 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1922 | #3,229 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1921 | #2,494 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1920 | #2,752 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1919 | #3,370 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1918 | #2,687 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1917 | #4,543 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1916 | #3,853 | 6 | 0.0007% |
| 1915 | #4,347 | 5 | 0.0006% |
| 1914 | #2,890 | 7 | 0.0011% |
| 1913 | #2,786 | 6 | 0.0012% |
| 1910 | #1,820 | 5 | 0.0026% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Ulis Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have talent, charm and luck. You can succeed in art and in any educational occupation. You attract peculiar experiences. Your power and protection lies in spiritual side of life. You are an enthusiastic collector and you will be tenacious in holding onto the things you accumulate. You have a good memory and should make an effort to have a positive attitude. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Ulis's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ulis's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.