- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: “magpie.”
- Gender: Female
- oo-RAH-kah
The name comes directly from the Spanish word for “magpie,” ultimately derived from the Latin furax (thievish).
The name was popular in the early Middle Ages among the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula.
Several medieval queens and princesses bore the name, including Queen Urraca of León and Castile (1079–1126), the powerful daughter of Alfonso VI, who ruled as queen regnant and Infanta Urraca of Portugal (11th century), daughter of King Afonso I.
It’s French form is Urraque. Early records also yield, Hurraca, Hurraqua, Urraka (Basque), Urraqua and Urraquoa.
Its softer Galician form is Orraca.
This beautiful Medieval gem deserves a comeback, especially with the nickname, Rocky.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urraca
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/urraca
- S.L. Uckelman. “Urraca”. In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2023, no. 1. http://dmnes.org/2023/1/name/Urraca.
