Hebrew word · H5925

עֻלָּא

'ula'

Ulla

A personal name found only here. Its meaning is uncertain. One suggestion links it to ʿōl, 'yoke'. The ending -ā is typical of short forms of names, and of names with an Aramaic flavour.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 07, 2026

What it means

A man of the tribe of Asher living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.7.36;

son of: Zophah (H6690);

brother of: Suah (H5477), Harnepher (H2774), Beri (H1275), Imrah (H3236), Bezer (H1221H), Hod (H1936), Shamma (H8037H), Shilshah (H8030), Ithran (H3506H) and Beera (H0878);

father of: Arah (H0733), Hanniel (H2592H) and Rizia (H7525); also called Ulla at 1Ch.7.39;

Another name of shu.al (שׁוּעָל "Shual" H7777B)

§ Ulla = "yoke"

an Asherite, head of a family in his tribe

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Chronicles 7:39

Range of meaning: A personal name found only here. Its meaning is uncertain. One suggestion links it to ʿōl, 'yoke'. The ending -ā is typical of short forms of names, and of names with an Aramaic flavour.
Against the English: Every English version simply writes 'Ulla'. No translation problem.
Used elsewhere in the period: Ulla appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek and Latin translators just copied the name into their own alphabets.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

1 Chronicles 7:39 עֻלָּ֑א Ulla

The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.

Here: The ancestor at the head of this short branch. Ulla appears only here, and the Asher list never says how he connects to the earlier names. Where the name comes from is uncertain. It may be connected to ʿōl, 'yoke', and the ending -ā is common in short forms of names.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.