Ulysses
- Pronunciation
- [U-ly-sses]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Wrathful
- Origin
- Greek
About the Name Ulysses
Ulysses is the Latin form of the Greek Odysseus, the legendary hero of Homer's epic whose name has long been associated with cunning, endurance, and a meaning sometimes rendered as "wrathful" or "wrath-bearing." Through the Odyssey, the name became a byword for the long, perilous journey home and the cleverness needed to survive it, giving it an epic, storied grandeur few names can match.
As a given name, Ulysses carries real classical weight and a distinctive, three-syllable sweep. It feels both scholarly and adventurous — the kind of name that nods to great literature and history while standing boldly apart from everyday choices. Its strong vowels and rolling rhythm give it a memorable, heroic presence, and it appeals to parents drawn to names with depth, ambition, and an unmistakable sense of story and legend behind them.
Ulysses first entered the US Social Security top-1000 for boys in 2000 and peaked in 2001 at rank #760. It held a place in the rankings through 2005, ranking #984 that year, after sitting at #815 in 2002 with 208 births. Across its run it accounts for 828 recorded births, marking it as a rare and literary choice for parents drawn to classical grandeur. It remains a rare, literary choice for parents who love names rich in history and legend. Its heroic, adventurous spirit sets it firmly apart from more everyday choices.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Ulysses
US Popularity History (2000–2005)
Annual US births named Ulysses by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2001 with 226 boys named Ulysses (boy rank #760 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2005, ranked #984 for boys (177 US births). That's 224 places below its 2001 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Ulysses Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Ulysses the strongest states are California, Arizona, Colorado.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | #629 | 423 |
| 2 | Arizona | #725 | 69 |
| 3 | Colorado | #749 | 33 |
| 4 | Texas | #860 | 236 |
| 5 | Washington | #863 | 29 |
| 6 | Illinois | #915 | 47 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | #915 | 47 |
| 2 | Washington | #863 | 29 |
| 3 | Texas | #860 | 236 |
| 4 | Colorado | #749 | 33 |
| 5 | Arizona | #725 | 69 |
| 6 | California | #629 | 423 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Ulysses in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Looking for names like Ulysses?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Ulysses to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Ulysses against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).