Boy · Old Norse
Olav
Say it: OO-lahv
Meaning
From Old Norse Óláfr, from an older form combining anu 'ancestor' and leifr 'heir, descendant'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Made Norway's royal and saintly name by Saint Olaf in the 11th century.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 28 babies given this name since 1919
- At its height in 1919, about 1 in 140,000 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The Viking and Anglo-Saxon Age700 to 1100
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Olaf, Ola, Ole
| Old Norse | Óláfr |
|---|---|
| Swedish | Olof |
| Danish | Oluf |
| Icelandic | Ólafur |
| Finnish | Olli |
Famous bearers
- Saint Olaf (Olaf II), patron saint of Norway
- Olaf Tryggvason, king of Norway
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- The Icelandic sagas and other Old Norse literature
- Calendars of saints and name days
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.