Glossary
What is urn?
An urn is a container that holds cremated remains. Urns come in many materials, sizes, and styles — from simple boxes to decorative vessels and biodegradable options — and may be kept at home, buried, or placed in a columbarium niche.
A standard adult urn is sized to hold the few pounds of remains a cremation produces — a common guideline is roughly one cubic inch of capacity per pound of the person's body weight. Keepsake urns are much smaller and hold a portion for relatives who want to share the remains, and cremation jewelry holds a token amount.
Urns are made in many materials and styles: wood, metal, ceramic, stone, and glass for those meant to be kept or displayed, and biodegradable forms — paper, salt, sand, or plant-based — designed to dissolve for a water ceremony or break down after a green burial. A scattering urn is built for easy release of the remains.
Under the FTC Funeral Rule, you may buy an urn from any seller, including online retailers, and a funeral home cannot refuse to use, or charge a handling fee for, one you provide. That lets you compare styles and prices freely. If you plan to place the urn in a niche or bury it, check the cemetery's size limits first.
Related terms
Cremains
Cremains is a common term for cremated remains — the bone fragments left after cremation, processed into a coarse, sandy material. They are returned to the family and can be kept in an urn, buried, scattered, or placed in a niche.
Niche
A niche is a compartment in a columbarium or niche wall that holds an urn of cremated remains. Families buy the right to place an urn in a specific niche, which provides a permanent, visitable resting place without an in-ground grave.
Inurnment
Inurnment is the placing of cremated remains into an urn, or the placing of an urn into its final resting place such as a columbarium niche or a grave. It is the cremation counterpart to the burial term interment.
FTC Funeral Rule
The FTC Funeral Rule is a US Federal Trade Commission regulation that gives consumers rights when buying funeral goods and services. It requires itemized pricing, lets you buy only what you want, and bars certain misrepresentations by funeral homes.
See also
Common questions about Urn
Sources
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This definition is general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws and prices vary by state and provider. See our editorial standards.