Given name & surname
Rudolf
Rudolf is a masculine given name from Czech, ultimately from German. It is used in English, German, Dutch, Polish, and 7 other languages.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Germanic.
The story
The name has historical associations with the Habsburg dynasty.
Rudolf through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,951
- 2,951 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1927
- 82 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −34%
- Easing
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 82 in 1927. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,065 as a first name in 2020; 1,186 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.
Rudolf’s family of names
Rudolf has a short form in Rudy. Rudolf shares a linguistic root with Rodolfo. Rudolf has a related form in Rudolph.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Rudolf has relatives in 25 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Germanic roots to each of them.
30 related names in 25 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 16
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
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.
- Rodolfocognate · Italian, Spanish
- Rudolfoequivalent
- Rodolphecognate · French
- RudolphusLatin
- RudolpheFrench
- Rufequivalent
- Ruediequivalent
- Rodoleequivalent
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Rufôfeequivalent
- Hrōþiwulfequivalent
- РудольфRussian, Ukrainian
- Rolvcognate · Norwegian Nynorsk
- Rūdolfscognate · Latvian
- Rudolfinafeminine form
- Rudolfafeminine form
- RaülCatalan
- ルドルフJapanese
- Ruodolfolder form · Old High German
- RodulfSwedish
- RodhulfSwedish
- Hróðólfuralso known as · Icelandic
- RuutolppiFinnish
- RuutolhviFinnish
- RuutolffiFinnish
- RóðolvurFaroese
- HróðolfrOld Norse
See also 4
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Rudolf
- Rudolf Christoph Eucken(1846-1926) German philosopher
- Rudolf DieselGerman inventor and mechanical engineer (1858–1913)
- Rudolf SteinerAustrian social reformer, occultist and esotericist (1861–1925)
- Rudolf ClausiusGerman mathematical physicist and professor (1822–1888)
- Rudolf VirchowGerman doctor, anthropologist, public health activist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician (1821-1902)
- Rudolf MössbauerGerman nuclear physicist and Noble Prize in Physics1929–2011
- Rudolf NureyevSoviet ballet dancer and choreographer (1938–1993)
- Rudolf II, Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria (1552-1612)
- Rudolf CarnapGerman philosopher and logician (1891–1970)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Rudolf, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“the king's advisor”
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Wilson
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Edsel
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