ülemised

Ülemised is the name of several small settlements in Estonia. The toponym is derived from the Estonian word ülemine meaning “upper” and is commonly used to distinguish an upper part of a village, a higher ground, or an upstream position relative to a neighboring settlement.

Because it is a descriptive placename rather than a single locality, there are multiple places named Ülemised in different counties, each part of a separate parish or municipality. They are typically small rural communities with modest populations and agricultural land use; houses and farmsteads are usually grouped along local roads.

The usage of the name reflects historical naming practices in Estonia, where upper and lower designations were used to differentiate two settlements with a common base name located near one another. Such names began to appear in land-registers and parish records from the 19th century onward and have been carried through to modern times.

In contemporary administration, Ülemised may appear as separate villages in national address databases; some instances have been affected by municipal or parish reforms in the 2010s, resulting in incorporation into larger municipalities or reassignment to neighboring settlements. The frequency and exact status of each Ülemised can vary by region and over time.

The name Ülemised is distinct from other toponyms that share the same root element ülem-, meaning upper, and it illustrates how descriptive geographic features were historically encoded into place names across Estonia.