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Ulrich (German pronunciation: [ˈʊl.ʁɪç]) is a German given name derived from Old High German Uodalrich, Odalric. It is composed of the elements uodal- meaning "heritage" and -rih meaning "king, ruler".[1] Attested from the 8th century as the name of Alamannic nobility, the name is popularly given from the high medieval period in reference to Saint Ulrich of Augsburg (canonized 993).
Ulrich is also a surname. It is most prevalent in Germany and has the highest density in Switzerland.[2] This last name was found in the United States in the year 1727[3] when Christof Ulrich landed in Pennsylvania.[4][5] Most Americans with the last name were concentrated in Pennsylvania, which was home to many German immigrant communities. Nowadays in the United States, the name is distributed largely in the Pennsylvania-Ohio region.[6]
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Documents record the Old High German name Oadalrich or Uodalrich from the later 8th century in Alamannia.[7] The related name Adalric (Anglo-Saxon cognate Æthelric) is attested from the 6th century (Athalaric King of the Ostrogoths; Æthelric of Bernicia). The name of Agilolfing duke Odilo (fl. 709–748) may represent a short form of the name.
Count Udalrich I (fl. 778–814), a son of Gerold of Anglachgau, founded the Alamannic Udalriching dynasty, ancestral to the counts of Bregenz. The given name occurred frequently in the Alamannic Hunfriding dynasty in the 9th to 10th centuries; examples include Odalric, Count of Barcelona (fl. 850s) and Odalric, Count of Thurgau (fl. 920s). The name is recorded in an Icelandic form as Óðalríkr only in the later medieval period.[8]
In the Middle High German period the name generally commemorated Saint Ulrich, Bishop of Augsburg (c. 890 – 4 July 973), who twice defended Augsburg from attacks by Magyars.
The Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli etymologized his given name as Huldrych (Huldricus, Huldaricus), i.e. "rich in grace".[9] In the wake of Zwingli, during the 16th century and well into the 18th century, it became a fashion - especially for Protestant writers - to Latinise the given name Ulrich as Huldricus.[10]
The name was popularly given in 20th-century Switzerland, especially from the 1940s to the 1960s, peaking at rank 16 in 1947, but dropping below rank 100 in 1972.[11] In Czechoslovakia, Oldřich was popularly given in the 1940s to 1950s, peaking at rank 18 during 1946–1951.[12]
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The German given name was adopted in Czech and Slovak as Oldřich, Oldrich and in Scandinavian languages as Ulrik, in Slovenian as Urh, in Latvia as Uldis.
Common German hypocoristics are Uli or Ulli (Swiss Ueli) and historically Utz. A Czech/Slovak hypocoristic is Olda, Oldík, Volek and a Polish one Ryczek.
Feminine forms Ulrikke and Ulrika have been recorded from the early modern period. A Czech form is Oldřiška.
In Italian, there are also many forms, as surnames, such as "Orrico", "D'Orrico", "D'oricchio", "Ulrico", "Urrico", "Orrigo", "Origo", "Orrigoni", "Orrici" and "Ulrici".
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Medieval to early modern
- Udalrich I, count in Alamannia (fl. 778–814), son of Gerold of Anglachgau
- Udalrich II, son of Udalrich I, count in Alamannia (fl. 800/803)
- Odalric, Count of Barcelona (fl. 850s)
- Ulrich of Augsburg (ca. 890 – 973), bishop and saint
- Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia (c. 975 – 1034)
- Ulric Manfred II of Turin (b. 1034), Count of Turin and Margrave of Susa
- Ulric I of Carniola (d. 1070), the Margrave of Carniola and Carinthia
- Ulric II of Carniola (d. 1112), the Margrave of Istria
- Ulrich I, Bishop of Passau (c. 1027 – 1121)
- Ulrich of Zell (1029–93), abbot and saint
- Ulrich I Bishop of Eichstätt (r. 1075–1099)
- Ulrich of Bamberg (fl. 1100), priest and chronicler
- Ulrich II von Bogen, Bishop of Eichstätt (r. 1112–1125)
- Oldřich of Olomouc (d. 1177), duke in Bohemia
- Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, late 12th century author of the Arthurian romance Lanzelet
- Ulrich II (bishop of Passau) (d. 1221)
- Ulrich von Liechtenstein (1200–1275), medieval writer, poet and knight
- Ulrich III, Duke of Carinthia (ca. 1220 – 1269)
- Ulrich II, Count of Württemberg (ca. 1254 – 1279)
- Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg (after 1286 – 1392)
- Ulrich II von Graben (before 1300 – ca. 1361), Austrian nobleman
- Ulrich III, Lord of Hanau (c. 1310 – 1369 or 1370)
- Ulrich IV, Count of Württemberg (after 1315 – 1366)
- Ulrich von Jungingen (1360–1410), 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
- Ulrich II, Count of Celje (1406–1456)
- Ulrich I, Count of East Frisia (1408–1466)
- Ulrich III von Nussdorf, Bishop of Passau (r. 1451–1479)
- Ulrich V, Count of Württemberg (1413–1480)
- Ulrich II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Stargard (probably before 1428 – 1471)
- Ulrich Fugger the Elder (1441–1510), German businessman and member of the Fugger family
- Ulrich Rülein von Calw (1465–1523), mayor of Freiberg, Saxony
- Ulrich of Hardegg (after 1483–1535), Count of Hardegg
- Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1535), leader of the Reformation in Switzerland
- Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (1487–1550)
- Ulrich von Hutten (1488–1523), German knight, scholar, poet and reformer during the Knights' War
- Ulrich Hugwald (1496–1571), Swiss reformer
- Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (1527–1603)
- Ulrik of Denmark (1578–1624), administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin
- Ulrich, Duke of Pomerania (1589–1622)
- Ulrik of Denmark (1611–1633), administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin
- Ulrich Grappler von Trappenburg, Bishop of Passau (r. 1646–1658)
- Ulrich von Jungingen (1360-1410), 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
Modern era
- Ulrich, 10th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (1893–1938), titular pretender
- Ulrich Daldrup (born 1947), German scientist and mayor of Aachen
- Ulrich Eberl (born 1962), German science and technology journalist
- Ulrich Ellis (1904–1981), Australian writer
- Ulrich Graf (1878–1950), member of Hitler's inner circle
- Ulric Guttinguer (1785–1866), French novelist
- Ulrich Herbert (born 1951), German historian
- Hans-Ulrich Indermaur (born 1939), Swiss journalist and writer
- Ulrich Leyendecker (1946–2018), German composer of contemporary classical music
- Ulrich Marida, Central African Republic basketball coach
- Ulrich Matthes (born 1959), German actor
- Ueli Maurer (b. 1950), Swiss politician
- Ulrich Mühe (1953–2007), German actor and director
- Ulrich Noethen (born 1959), German actor
- Ulrich Salchow (1877–1949), German figure skater and inventor of the salchow jump
- Ulrich Schmid-Maybach, philanthropist, real estate developer and entrepreneur
- Ulrich Schnauss (born 1977), German musician
- Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902–1944), a key conspirator in the failed 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944
- Ulrich Steinhilper (1918–2009), World War II Luftwaffe ace credited by some with the concept of word processing
- Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848–1931), German classical philologist
- Ulrich Wild (born 1969), American record producer
- Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946), more commonly known as Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany from 1938 until 1945
- Ulrich Frédéric Woldemar, Comte de Lowendal (1700–1755), German-born French soldier and statesmen
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- Benjamin Ulrich (born 1988), German rugby union international
- Bror Ludvig Ulrich (1818–1887), Swedish military and colonial governor
- Charles Frederic Ulrich (1858–1908), American painter
- Christian Ulrich (1836–1909), Austrian architect
- D. K. Ulrich (born 1944), American race car driver/owner
- Donald Ulrich aka Don Rich (1941–1974) American country music musician
- Dutch Ulrich (1899–1929), American baseball player
- Edward Oscar Ulrich (1857–1944), American invertebrate paleontologist
- Einer Ulrich (1896-1969), Danish tennis player
- Eric Ulrich (born 1985), American politician from New York City
- Fernando Ulrich (born 1952), Portuguese economist and banking administrator
- Henry G. Ulrich III, United States Navy admiral who retired in 2007
- Jan Ullrich (born 1973), German race cyclist
- Jennifer Ulrich (born 1984), German actress
- Joe Ulrich (born 1961), American former soccer player
- Lars Ulrich (born 1963), Danish drummer for heavy metal band Metallica
- Laurent Ulrich (born 1951), French archbishop of the Catholic Church
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born 1938), American historian and writer
- Lester J. Ulrich (1908-1991), American lawyer and politician
- Richard Ulrich (born 1942), German board game designer
- Richard Ulrich (American football), former American football coach
- Skeet Ulrich (born 1970), American actor
- Torben Ulrich (1928–2023), Danish writer and tennis pro
- Tracy Ulrich (born 1966), aka Tracii Guns, guitarist and musician
- Werner Ulrich (born 1948), Swiss social scientist and practical philosopher
- William M. Ulrich (born ca. 1956), American management consultant
- Wolf-Christian Ulrich (born 1975), German TV journalist, host and correspondent
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- Ulrich, the old sorcerer in the film Dragonslayer (1981)
- Ulrich, the protagonist of Robert Musil's 20th century novel The Man Without Qualities
- Ulrich Stern, a character on the French animated TV series Code Lyoko
- Ulrich von Bek, the hero of The War Hound and the World's Pain and other novels by Michael Moorcock
- Ulrich von Gradwitz, a character in Saki's short story "The Interlopers"
- Ulrich von Liechtenstein, an alias of Heath Ledger's character in the film A Knight's Tale
- Ulrich Nielsen, a character in the German Netflix original series Dark
- Walter von Ulrich, one of the main characters in the novels Fall of Giants and Winter of the World by Welsh author Ken Follett
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