Ulrich
Ulrich (German pronunciation: [uːlʁiːx]), formerly Huldrich or Huldrych, is a Germanic name, derived from Old High German Uodalrich (uodal- meaning "heritage" and -rich meaning "powerful"). It is also common as a surname, which includes the following Germanic variants: Ullrich, Urich, Ulich, Ulerich/Ullerich, Ulricher/Ullricher, Ulrisch/Ullrisch, Ulrych/Ullrych, Ulman/Ullman, Ulmann/Ullmann, Uler/Uller, Uli, Ülke, Ützle, Utz, Utzmann, Olrich/Ollrich, Oelrich and Ahlrich.
The surname "Ulrich", and its variants, spread across Europe during the middle ages. This was largely in devotion to Saint Ulrich, Bishop of Augsburg (c. 890 – 4 July 973) who twice defended Augsburg from hostile attacks by pagan Magyars. Saint Ulrich was known for his courage, high moral standard, and loyalty to Emperor Otto I ("Otto the Great"). As a result, it is not uncommon to find variants of the surname "Ulrich" (as identified below) in non-German speaking lands, including England, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Scandinavian countries.
Other language variants of the surname "Ulrich" include the following: Ulric/Ullric (English), Ulrick (English), Alaric/Allaric (English), Alarich (English), Alarick (English), Aleric (English), Alerick (English), Alrick (English), Wolrich/Wollrich (English), Woolrich (English), Woolrych (English), Yulrich (English), Ulric (English and French), Ueli (Scandinavian), Ulrik/Ullrik (Scandinavian), Ulrike/Ulrikke (Scandinavian), Ulrica/Ulrika (Scandinavian), Alarik (Scandinavian), Alrik (Scandinavian), Ulloriaq (Greenlandic, Scandinavian), Ulderico/Ullderico (Italian), Ulrico/Ullrico (Italian), Huldericus (Latin), Oldřich/Oldrich (Czech, Slovak), Volek/Vollek (Slovak, Czech), Ulryk/Ullryk (Polish), Ulryc (Polish), Ryczek (Polish), Ódor (Hungarian), Uldis/Ulldis (Latvian), and Odalric (Catalan).
Given name
Middle Ages
- Ulrich of Augsburg (ca. 890 – 973), bishop and saint
- Ulrich of Zell (1029–93), abbot and saint
- Ulrich III, Duke of Carinthia (ca. 1220 – 1269)
- Ulrich II, Count of Celje (1406–1456)
- Ulrich I, Count of East Frisia (1408–1466)
- Ulrich III, Lord of Hanau (c. 1310 – 1369 or 1370)
- Ulrich of Hardegg (after 1483–1535), Count of Hardegg
- Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (1527–1603)
- Ulrich II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Stargard (probably before 1428 – 1471)
- Ulrich, Duke of Pomerania (1589–1622)
- Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (1487–1550)
- Ulrich II, Count of Württemberg (ca. 1254 – 1279)
- Ulrich III, Count of Württemberg (after 1286 – 1392)
- Ulrich IV, Count of Württemberg (after 1315 – 1366)
- Ulrich V, Count of Württemberg (1413–1480)
- Ulrik of Denmark (1578–1624), administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin
- Ulrik of Denmark (1611–1633), administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin
- Ulrich Rülein von Calw (1465–1523), mayor of Freiberg, Saxony
- Ulrich Fugger the Elder (1441–1510), German businessman and member of the Fugger family
- Ulrich II von Graben (before 1300 – ca. 1361), Austrian nobleman
- Ulrich von Hutten (1488–1523), German scholar, poet and reformer
- Ulrich von Jungingen (1360–1410), 26th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
- Ulrich von Liechtenstein (1200–1275), medieval writer, poet and knight
- Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, late 12th century author of the Arthurian romance Lanzelet
- Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1535), leader of the Reformation in Switzerland
Modern era
- Ulrich, 10th Prince Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau (1893–1938), titular pretender
- Ulrich Daldrup (born 1947), mayor of Aachen and German scientist
- Ulrich Drepper, a software developer and former lead maintainer for GNU libc
- Ulrich Eberl (born 1962), German science and technology journalist
- Ulrich Leyendecker (born 1946), German composer of contemporary classical music
- Ulrich Matthes (born 1959), German actor
- 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
Surname
- William Ulrich (born 1996), famous water polo player who played for the D1 patriot league Lehigh University team
- Benjamin Ulrich (born 1988), German rugby union international
- Christian Ulrich (1836–1909), Austrian architect
- Dutch Ulrich (1899–1929), American baseball player
- Donald Ulrich aka Don Rich (1941–1974) American country music musician
- Edward Oscar Ulrich (1857–1944), American invertebrate paleontologist
- 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
- Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895), German writer and LGBT activist
- Lars Ulrich (born 1963), Danish drummer for heavy metal band Metallica
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (born 1938), American historian and writer
- Richard Ulrich (born 1942), German board game designer
- Skeet Ulrich (born 1970), American actor
- Torben Ulrich (born 1928), Danish writer and tennis pro
- Werner Ulrich (born 1948), Swiss social scientist and practical philosopher
- William M. Ulrich (born ca. 1956), American management consultant
Fictional characters
- Ulrich Stern, a character on Code Lyoko
- Ulrich von Liechtenstein, an alias of Heath Ledger's character in the film A Knight's Tale
- Ulrich, the old sorcerer in the film Dragonslayer
- Ulrich, the protagonist of Robert Musil's 20th century novel The Man Without Qualities
- Ulrich von Gradwitz, a character in Saki's short story "The Interlopers"
- Walter von Ulrich, one of the main characters in the novels Fall of Giants and Winter of the World by Welsh author Ken Follett
- Ulrich von Bek, the hero of The War Hound and the World's Pain and other novels by Michael Moorcock
See also
- Ulrike
- Ulrich's Periodicals Directory
- St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey, Augsburg
- St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest
- Uli (disambiguation)
- Ulric (disambiguation)
- Ulrike (disambiguation); feminine form
- Ulrica
- Huldreich (disambiguation)