Discover 12 Cities That Start With U

Although it might not be the most popular letter in the English alphabet, our world contains dozens of cities that start with U. Perhaps predictably, the vast majority of these lie outside North America and have unique meanings in their languages. We’ll go in-depth with just a few of the larger and more well-known municipalities; at the end of this article, you’ll find a list of over 80 cities worldwide beginning with this letter. Read on to discover 12 cities that start with U (and the meaning of their names)!

1. Uberlândia, Brazil

Uberlândia is a city in Brazil in the state of Minas Gerais. It sits 2,802 feet (854 meters) above sea level in the Brazilian Highlands along the Bom Jardim River. Since gaining status as a city in 1892, it has developed significant agricultural, architectural, and cultural value. As of 2020, its population was 699,097.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Uberlândia

The meaning and origin of the name Uberlândia is uncertain. Some scholars suggest that the name comes from the Latin for “upper” or “superior,” referring to the city’s elevation. Others suggest that the name derives from the Portuguese uber (“over”) and terra (“land”), which would be a reference to the city’s position on a plateau.

2. Ufa, Russia

Ufa is the largest city in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. It sits just below the confluence of the Belaya (White) and Ufa Rivers. Known for its engineering and timber-processing industries, the city is the tenth most populous city in Russia. As of 2021, its population was 1,144,799.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Ufa

Ufa derives its name from the nearby Ufa River. According to Russian linguist Aleksandr Matveyev, the name itself may come from the Iranian word ap, which means “water.” It is also possible that there was once an ancient village in the area called Ufa that served as a sacrificial site for ancient Turkish tribes. They referred to such places as opo or ope, giving rise to the name Upe or Ufe and, adjacently, Ufa.

3. Uitenhage, South Africa

Among the biggest cities that start with U is Uitenhage, officially renamed Kariega, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. It forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. Its claim to fame is its Volkswagen factory, the biggest car factory in Africa. As of 2023, Uitenhage had a population of approximately 319,621.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Uitenhage

District magistrate (landdrost) Jacob Glen Cuyler founded the city on April 25, 1804. Dutch Cape Colony Governor Jan Willem Janssens named it Uitenhage in honor of the Cape’s Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist. The change to the name Kariega honors the original inhabitants of the region.

4. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Also known as Ulan Bator, Ulaanbaatar is a city in Mongolia in the eastern part of Asia. It ranks as the country’s capital and most populous city. It also ranks as the world’s coldest capital city by average yearly temperature. As of 2023, the city had an approximate population of 1,672,627.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar has gone through several name changes since its establishment in 1639 as Örgöö. Upon gaining status as the capital city of the Mongolian People’s Republic in 1924, it received its current name, which translates to “Red Hero.” At one point, the Latin alphabet was in use in Mongolia, leading to the spelling of Ulaanbaatar koto. Today, the city is commonly known as koto or simply UB.

5. Ulhasnagar, India

If you browse our comprehensive list of cities that begin with U at the end of this article, you’ll notice that India contains quite a few such towns. Among them is Ulhasnagar, a city in the Thane district of Maharashtra on the Ulhas River. Currently, the city houses India’s largest population of Sindhi Hindus, many of whom trace their descent to the 1947 influx of refugees from the Sindh province in Pakistan. As of 2023, the city’s approximate total population was 696,000.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Ulhasnagar

The city of Ulhasnagar derives its name from the Ulhas River, which flows through its center. Ulhas means “happiness,” while nagar means “city.” Thus, Ulhasnagar translates to “city of happiness.”

6. Ulsan, South Korea

Officially known as Ulsan Metropolitan City, Ulsan is a major city in the southeast of South Korea with Busan to the south and Gyeongju to the north. The city comprises four districts or gu (Buk, Dong, Jung, and Nam) and one county or gun (Ulju). As of 2022, the population of Ulsan was approximately 1,111,707.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Ulsan

The meaning and origin of the name Ulsan is uncertain.

7. Uman, Ukraine

Uman is a moderate-sized city in the Cherkasy Oblast province in central Ukraine on the Umanka River. The city has a long history of consecutive Polish, Russian, Soviet, and independent Ukrainian rule. It also happens to be an important pilgrimage site for Breslov Hasidic Jews. As of 2022, it had a population of approximately 81,525.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Uman

Uman derives its name from the nearby Umanka River, which is a tributary of the Yatran River stretching 27 miles (43 kilometers) long.

8. Universal City, United States (Texas)

The United States may not have many cities that start with U, but a few such towns do exist! Universal City is a town in the United States in Bexar County, Texas (not to be confused with Universal City in Los Angeles, California). It lies within the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area to the southwest of San Antonio. As of 2022, its population was approximately 19,990.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Universal City

The name Universal City comes from the town’s proximity to Randolph Air Force Base. In 1929, three doctors bought the land (originally farmland) in hopes that the airbase would attract people and businesses to the area. Developer Aubrey Milner christened the land in 1931 to reflect what he saw as the airfield’s “universal importance.”

9. Uruapan, Mexico

Uruapan is a Mexican city in the state of Michoacán on the western edge of the Purépecha highlands. Not only is it the state’s second-largest city after Morelia, it is also the hub of the country’s avocado-growing region. Because of its location, it holds great economic importance. As of 2020, the city had a population of 356,786.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Uruapan

The name Uruapan derives from the Purépecha word uruapani, which means either “plants that flower and fruit at the same time” or “those which are always giving fruit.” The city’s history dates back to pre-Hispanic times when Purépechas were the primary inhabitants.

10. Ürümqi, China

Ürümqi is a city in the far northwest of China and the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. According to Guinness World Records, this region contains the point of land in the world furthest from the sea (1,645 miles away). Alternate and/or former spellings of Ürümqi’s name include Urumqi, Urumchi, Dihua, and Tihwa. As of 2020, it had a population of approximately 4,054,000.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Ürümqi

The name Ürümqi originally belonged to a small town built by the Mongol Dzungar people who spoke the Oirat language. In this language, ürümqi means “beautiful pasture.” Although the Qing dynasty renamed the current Ürümqi Dihua (meaning “to enlighten and civilize”) after its conquest in 1755, the Chinese Communist Party changed its name back on February 1, 1954.

11. Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan

Ust-Kamenogorsk is the Russian name for the Kazakh city of Öskemen in Kazakhstan (both names are official). The city is the administrative center of the East Kazakhstan Region and the largest city in eastern Kazakhstan. Its mining and metallurgical industries remain economically significant to the country. As of 2023, the city had a total population of 400,142.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Ust-Kamenogorsk

In Russia, the name Ust-Kamenogorsk means something like “the mouth of rocky mountains” or “the place where rivers flow out of their rocky valleys.” It references such a place a short distance upstream of the city.

12. Utrecht, Netherlands

The ancient city of Utrecht is the capital (and most populous) city of the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands. It sits in the eastern section of the Randstad conurbation. To this day, it remains a critical architectural, educational, cultural, and economic hub in the middle of mainland Netherlands, boasting the country’s largest university and its busiest train station (Utrecht Centraal). As of 2021, it had a population of 361,699.

Meaning and Origin of the Name Utrecht

Utrecht was originally Traiectum, a name that described its position as a Roman fort at a Rhine crossing. The name morphed into the Dutch Trecht, but this turned out to be too similar to the city Maas-tricht on the Meuse River. To distinguish between the two, the Old Dutch uut (“downriver”) was added to make the name U-trecht or Utrecht.

Summary Table of 12 Cities That Start With U

Other Cities That Start With U

Below is a table of other cities in the world that start with the letter U: