Given name & surname
Adolf
“a noble, majestic wolf”
Adolf is a variant of Adolph. One German interpretation is “a noble, majestic wolf.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Adolf is a variant of Adolph. One German interpretation is “a noble, majestic wolf.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Germanic.
How it developed
Its Germanic formation brings together adal (“noble”) and wolf (“wolf”).
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Adolf through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,394
- 1,394 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 56 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1990. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 56 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,083 as a first name in 2020; 794 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Adolf’s family of names
In German usage, Adolf has a diminutive in Adi. In English usage, Adolf shares a linguistic root with the Finnish form Aadolf. In Polish usage, Adolf has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Adolfo.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Adolf has relatives in 27 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Germanic roots to each of them.
44 related names in 27 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 21
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Adidiminutive · German
- Adolphvariant · English, German
- Addiminutive · Dutch, German
- 小鬍子nickname
- Adolfekdiminutive · Czech
- Aatolppivariant · Finnish
- Dolfdiminutive · gmw-ecg
- Adólfvariant · Icelandic
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- Ádadiminutive · Czech
- Addediminutive · Swedish
- Adulfvariant · German
- Azzoshort form · Italian
- Adjeshort form · German
- Adolfikdiminutive · Polish
- Dolfsvariant · German
- Dölfelvariant · German
- Adolphsenvariant · German
- Adolfsenvariant · German, Danish
- Adolffvariant · German
- Athaulfvariant · German
- Adalwolfvariant · German
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 26
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- AdolfoItalian, Spanish
- AddiGerman
- Adolphoequivalent
- Adolphealso known as · French, Swedish
- Adolphuslatinized form of · Latin
- Adolvsson“son of” surname · English
- Adolfsson“son of” surname · English
- Adolfson“son of” surname · English
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- АдольфRussian, Ukrainian
- Tolppicognate · Finnish
- A-đôn-phơderivative · Vietnamese
- Aadolfcognate · Finnish
- ΑδόλφοςGreek
- Ethelwolfdoublet · English
- Adolfinafeminine form
- Adolfafeminine form
- Адо́льфRussian
- ĀdolfsLatvian
- AatuFinnish
- Æþelwulfcognate · Old English
- AdolfasLithuanian
- アドルフォJapanese
- AthulfGothic
- AatolviFinnish
- AatolttiFinnish
- AdolfeDanish
People named Adolf
- Adolf ButenandtGerman biochemist (1903-1995)
- Adolf WindausGerman chemist (1876–1959)
- Adolf LoosAustrian and Czech architect and art collector (1870-1933)
- Adolf AnderssenGerman chess champion, after Paul Morphy (1858-1860), second unofficial world chess champion (1851-1858, 1860-1865, 1867-1871), chess publicist1818–1879
- Adolf DasslerGerman entrepreneur, founder of Adidas shoe company (1900–1978)
- Adolf Frederick of SwedenKing of Sweden (1710–1771)
- Adolf GallandGerman World War II Luftwafffe general and fighter pilot (1912-1996)
- Adolf von HarnackBaltic German theologian and prominent church historian (1851–1930)
- Adolf, King of the RomansKing of Germany (1292-1298), count of Nassau (1276-1298)1255–1298
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Adolf, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Odell
“a sweet melody” · “one who is wealthy”
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Aloysius
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“the eagle ruler”
>99% boys