This page lists 19 literary boy names that start with U, from “Ulysses” to “Upton.” The names come from epic poems, classic novels, medieval legends, and Bible stories, and they cover many languages and eras. Some are well known, while others are rare and ready to be rediscovered. Parents, writers, and book lovers use them to name a baby, build a character, or find new story ideas.
Literary boy names are names borne by characters, authors, or figures from books, poems, and myths. A good example is “Ulysses,” the Latin form of Odysseus, which James Joyce used as the title of his 1922 novel.
Below you’ll find the table with each name’s origin, pronunciation, meaning, and a short description.
Name: The literary boy name itself, listed alphabetically so you can scan quickly and spot the ones that catch your eye.
Origin: The language or culture the name comes from, which helps you see its roots and match it to your own heritage.
Pronunciation: A simple phonetic guide showing how to say the name aloud, so you can use it with confidence in conversation.
Meaning: What the name originally meant, including a few uncertain or disputed readings, so you can pick one that carries a message you like.
Description: A short note on the book, story, or figure linked to the name, showing you where the name appears in literature.
Literary boy names
Name
Origin
Pronunciation
Meaning
Ulysses
Latin (from Greek Odysseus)
yoo-LISS-eez
Wrathful, or “one who is angry”
Uriah
Hebrew
yoo-RYE-uh
“The Lord is my light”
Uriel
Hebrew
YOOR-ee-el
“God is my light”
Uther
Welsh / Brythonic
YOO-ther
“Terrible” or “dreadful”
Uhtred
Old English
OOT-red
“Dawn counsel”
Uncas
Mohegan (Algonquian)
UNG-kus
Possibly “fox”
Urien
Welsh / Brythonic
OO-ree-en
Possibly “privileged birth”
Ulrich
Germanic
OOL-rik
“Prosperity and power”
Ugolino
Italian (Germanic origin)
oo-go-LEE-no
“Bright mind” or “spirit”
Ubertino
Italian (Germanic origin)
oo-ber-TEE-no
“Bright intellect”
Umberto
Italian (Germanic origin)
oom-BEHR-toh
“Bright warrior” or “famous Hun”
Ulick
Irish (Gaelic)
YOO-lik
Uncertain, possibly “reward of the mind”
Utnapishtim
Akkadian
oot-nuh-PISH-tim
“He found life”
Ulf
Old Norse
OOLF
“Wolf”
Ursus
Latin
UR-sus
“Bear”
Urias
Greek (from Hebrew)
oo-RYE-us
“The Lord is my light”
Umslopogaas
Zulu (invented spelling)
um-slo-po-GAH-as
Likely from the Zulu “Mzilikazi” style of naming
Ulfric
Old English
UL-frik
“Wolf ruler”
Upton
Old English
UP-ton
“Upper town”
Descriptions
Ulysses
The Latinized name of Odysseus, hero of Homer’s Odyssey, and the title of James Joyce’s 1922 novel, whose Leopold Bloom retraces the hero’s journey through a single day in Dublin.
Uriah
Uriah Heep is the fawning, scheming clerk in Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield. The name also belongs to Uriah the Hittite in the Bible, whom King David has killed.
Uriel
Uriel is the archangel of the sun in Milton’s Paradise Lost, who is tricked by Satan in disguise. The name also appears in Jewish and Christian tradition and in later fantasy writing.
Uther
Uther Pendragon is King Arthur’s father in Arthurian legend, as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth and Thomas Malory. His affair with Igraine, arranged by Merlin, leads to Arthur’s birth.
Uhtred
Uhtred of Bebbanburg is the narrator and hero of Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, a Northumbrian raised by Danes during the Viking invasions of England. The name comes from a real Anglo-Saxon earl.
Uncas
Uncas is the last young Mohican warrior in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans (1826). He was named after a historical Mohegan sachem.
Urien
Urien of Rheged is a king in Arthurian tales, often shown as the father of Yvain and the husband of Morgan le Fay. He is based on a real sixth-century British ruler.
Ulrich
Ulrich appears in many German-language stories, including Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities, whose hero Ulrich is a thoughtful mathematician in pre-war Vienna.
Ugolino
Count Ugolino della Gherardesca is a tragic figure in Dante’s Inferno, where he is trapped in ice and gnaws the head of his enemy Archbishop Ruggieri.
Ubertino
Ubertino of Casale is the Franciscan scholar in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. He debates faith and heresy with William of Baskerville inside a medieval abbey.
Umberto
Best known as the first name of Italian novelist Umberto Eco, author of The Name of the Rose. It is sometimes given to boys as a nod to his literary legacy.
Ulick
Ulick is a recurring name in Irish literature and history. It appears in Maria Edgeworth’s novels and in Ulick Burke, a Norman-Irish lord tied to Gaelic tales.
Utnapishtim
Utnapishtim is the flood survivor in the Epic of Gilgamesh, granted immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh travels far to ask him the secret of eternal life.
Ulf
Ulf appears in Norse sagas and in modern Viking fiction. Ulf Bjorn and similar warriors show up throughout Scandinavian literature and fantasy.
Ursus
Ursus is the gentle, immensely strong gladiator who rescues Lygia in Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis (1896), set in Nero’s Rome. Victor Hugo also gave the name to a wandering showman in The Man Who Laughs.
Urias
A form of Uriah found in older English and Spanish literature, tied to the biblical story of Uriah the Hittite and sometimes used for characters in religious and historical novels.
Umslopogaas
Umslopogaas is the fierce Zulu warrior with the axe Inkosi-kaas in H. Rider Haggard’s adventure novels Allan Quatermain and Nada the Lily.
Ulfric
The name of several Anglo-Saxon and Norman characters in historical novels, including Ulfric the Saxon in Walter Scott-style tales of medieval England.
Upton
Upton is used as a first name in American literature, most famously for the muckraking novelist Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle (1906).
If you think there is a missing term, let us know using the contact form.
