Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Thoralf isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1918. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Thoralf through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 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 1918. 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.
Thoralf’s family of names
The ring: across languages.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Thoralf
- Thoralf SkolemNorwegian mathematician (1887-1963)
- Thoralf StrømstadNordic skier (1897–1984)
- Thoralf HagenNorwegian coxswain (1887-1979)
- Thoralf PetersGerman rowerborn 1968
- Thoralf GladNorwegian sailor (1878-1969)
- Thoralf KloumanNorwegian actor and artist (1890–1940)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Thoralf, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Olan
“the last of the ancestors”
>99% boys
Oran
“surrounded by light” · “a pale-skinned man”
>99% boys
Hale
“from the hall of light; a heroine” · “from the hall; a hero”
>99% boys
Odie
“a sweet melody” · “one who is wealthy”
>99% boys
Horace
“the keeper of time”
>99% boys
Orville
“from the gold town”
>99% boys
Odell
“a sweet melody” · “one who is wealthy”
98% boys · 2% girls
Osborne
“a bear of God”
>99% boys