Given name · also Old Norse
Gandalf
“elf familiar”
Gandalf is a masculine given name from Old Norse (ultimately Medieval Latin), meaning “elf familiar.” It is used in English and Swedish.
Original Old NorseGandalfr
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Gandalf comes from Old Norse, and ultimately from Medieval Latin.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1970. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Gandalf through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1970
- 5 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 1970. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Gandalf’s family of names
In Swedish usage, Gandalf continues an earlier form in Gandalfr. In German usage, Gandalf has a related form in GANDOLF. In English usage, Gandalf has a related form in Gundulf.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Gandalf has relatives in 10 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
14 related names in 10 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 11
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Gandalfrolder form · Old Norse
- Гэ́ндальфRussian
- ガンダルフJapanese
- גאנדאלףHebrew
- גנדלףHebrew
- גאנדלףHebrew
- גנדאלףHebrew
- 甘道夫Mandarin
Show 3 moreShow fewer
People named Gandalf
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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