Ulysess
A masculine name derived from the Latin word "Ulixes", meaning "wrathful" or "angry".
Name Census estimates that about 187 living Americans carry the first name Ulysess. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ulysess today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ulysess births was 1926 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ulysess. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
187
~ 1 in 1,832,911 Americans
Peak year
1926
15 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2010 SSA rank
#12,116
Tracked since 1912
Census
Ulysess in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 233 people with the first name Ulysess, which placed it at #34,862 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#34,862
National first-name rank
People counted
233
233 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ulysess
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ulysess is Black at 51.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.3%) and White (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ulysess described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ulysess at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.1% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino37.3% · 87
- White6.9% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 4
- Two or more races1.7% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 3
Popularity
Ulysess: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ulysess from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 106 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ulysess by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ulysess during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ulysess' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ulysess
The name Ulysses has its origins in Greek mythology, derived from the name Odysseus, the legendary Greek hero and the protagonist of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. Odysseus, in turn, is believed to be derived from the Greek word "odussomai," meaning "to suffer" or "to be wrathful."
The Odyssey, composed around the 8th century BC, recounts the journey of Odysseus as he attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. The name Ulysses is the Latin version of Odysseus, reflecting the influence of Roman culture on the spread and adaptation of Greek names.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ulysses was during the Renaissance period, when it was popularized by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri in his work The Divine Comedy, written in the early 14th century. Dante's portrayal of Ulysses as a heroic figure seeking knowledge and adventure helped revive interest in the name.
Historically, the name Ulysses has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the 18th President of the United States, who led the Union Army to victory during the American Civil War. His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but he was often referred to as Ulysses S. Grant, with the initial "S" standing for nothing.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Ulysses Kay (1917-1995), an American composer known for his orchestral and chamber works, which blended elements of classical music with African-American folk traditions.
In literature, Ulysses is the title of the renowned novel by James Joyce, published in 1922. The novel follows the experiences of Leopold Bloom on a single day in Dublin, paralleling the odyssey of the mythical Odysseus.
Other notable individuals with the name Ulysses include Ulysses Simpson Grant Curl (1865-1935), a Union Army veteran and early settler in Oklahoma; Ulysses S. Guyer (1892-1984), an American artist and illustrator; and Ulysses Dove (1947-1996), a celebrated American modern dancer and choreographer.
Throughout history, the name Ulysses has been associated with themes of adventure, perseverance, and the quest for knowledge, reflecting the enduring influence of the Greek epic The Odyssey and its protagonist, Odysseus.
People
Ulysess + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ulysess as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ulysess: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ulysess?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 187 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ulysess going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,832,911 US residents.
Is Ulysess a common name?
We classify Ulysess as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 463 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ulysess most popular?
The single biggest year for Ulysess was 1926, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ulysess is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ulysess in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 233 people with the name Ulysess, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,862 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ulysess in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ulysess?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ulysess leans strongly male. 230 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ulysess?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ulysess is Black at 51.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.3%) and White (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ulysess most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ulysess in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.1% (119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ulysess in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ulysess a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ulysess in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ulysess still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ulysess in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ulysess can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Ulysess?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.