In an effort to be anything but ubiquitous, you might want to give your upcoming child an ultra-rare, unique name.
There’s ultimately no better way to do that than assign them a moniker beginning with the letter U.
Some names like Uma (Uma Thurman), Ursula (from ‘The Little Mermaid’) and Uzo (Uzo Aduba) might be well known, but that doesn’t make them common.
In fact, U names are still somewhat rare. The first initial rose — and then fell — in popularity in recent years, according to the Social Security Administration.
In 2023 the only baby boy name starting with U that cracked the top 500 on the SSA’s annual list is Uriel. It ranked No. 497 in popularity of use that year, but the 2024 data shows it fell off — there was no boy name beginning with the letter on the top 500 list last year. And girl names are no different — it’s been at least two years since a U name broke the top 500.
Laura Wattenberg, creator of Namerology, previously told TODAY.com that “Parents are drawn to the long ‘U’ ‘oo’ sound more than the short ‘U’ ‘uh’ sound.”
“The long ‘U’ has brought the biblical names Uriah and Uriel to new popularity heights,” she explained. “And the classical name Ulysses is showing new life, as well.”
Still, Wattenberg called U “the single most overlooked letter” when it comes to first initials. So it’s a pretty safe bet that if you go in this somewhat unusual direction, your kid’s name will be unique on the playground.
Since there aren’t many popular names out there to turn to, check out this list of 220 U names to gain some inspiration.
220 Baby Names That Start With "U"
From Ulmer to Una and Urica, baby names that begin with the letter “U” are here to stay. Here are 220 baby names that start with “U” to consider for your little one.
- Ulysses
- Usman
- Udai
- Upton
- Umberto
- Uri
- Usman
- Usain
- Urban
- Urbaine
- Ulrich
- Uilliam
- Usko
- Uriah
- Uriel
- Uche
- Ulick
- Ulmer
- Uday
- Ubaldo
- Ugo
- Udell
- Utah
- Usher
- Udo
- Umar
- Udom
- Uno
- Urabi
- Umed
- Ulan
- Uziah
- Unai
- Ubba
- Usti
- Umut
- Upwood
- Ubadah
- Umbro
- Updike
- Uros
- Uthman
- Umaid
- Ulster
- Ultan
- Uchit
- Udadhi
- Union
- Umid
- Utesh
- Ugam
- Usaf
- Ujit
- Udant
- Udolf
- Usoro
- Udale
- Ulf
- Uddam
- Ungus
- Uncas
- Upchurch
- Uddhav
- Ulbricht
- Uppi
- Unmani
- Unwin
- Ursus
- Uttam
- Uther
- Umee
- Ujendra
- Upen
- Udyan
- Upmanyu
- Ulvi
- Urs
- Urtzi
- Udeep
- Uzoma
- Urizen
- Uraz
- Usiel
- Usama
- Usayd
- Uzias
- Uzay
- Uciel
- Udonis
- Utsav
- Urek
- Utcha
- Uwais
- Unas
- Umair
- Uzmi
- Utbah
- Uffa
- Ulfin
- Uggi
- Una
- Urbana
- Ulla
- Ulani
- Unique
- Uliana
- Ursula
- Uma
- Usha
- Unity
- Ulissa
- Ushi
- Ulyana
- Unice
- Umber
- Umi
- Unati
- Uzma
- Ulrica
- Ursa
- Uva
- Utopia
- Uriella
- Ute
- Udy
- Umiko
- Ushma
- Ultima
- Unnati
- Universe
- Umbrielle
- Umay
- Ubon
- Ulanda
- Ubalda
- Udora
- Umbra
- Uzo
- Udaya
- Ujala
- Umarani
- Uyen
- Upala
- Unmesha
- Ulasa
- Udella
- Udelle
- Urika
- Udile
- Ugetta
- Unita
- Ulrika
- Undene
- Umeko
- Umali
- Ubah
- Ursley
- Udva
- Unite
- Upala
- Uzra
- Urith
- Uriyana
- Ulyciana
- Uranja
- Uravi
- Uswa
- Urica
- Urbi
- Ulka
- Utyna
- Unn
- Unega
- Ubika
- Umaiza
- Uttara
- Ulee
- Ursy
- Urata
- Ula
- Ursuline
- Ulva
- Ushmi
- Umangi
- Udita
- Udela
- Urmika
- Uttara
- Udayati
- Upantika
- Ushanthy
- Ushika
- Usitha
- Udhaya
- Umaya
- Ulta
- Uxue
- Ushangi
- Uvani
- Uta
- Udayan
- Udbhav
- Ubhay
- Uchadev
- Udarchis
- Ukyou
- Utaya
- Utasuke
- Udit
- Umang
- Utkarsh
- Udarathi
- Udbal
- Uddip
- Udanda
- Uddish
- Umesh
- Ui
- Ujou
- Umi
