Rudolf

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Boy · Old High German

Rudolf

Say it: ROO-dolf

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Germanic hrod 'fame' and wulf 'wolf'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

The founding name of the Habsburg dynasty, very common in German-speaking countries in the early 20th century.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1910s

In the United States

05010018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1909per million babies of that sex
  • 2,925 babies given this name since 1882
  • At its height in 1916, about 1 in 12,700 boys
  • 8 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. The Renaissance1400 to 1600
  3. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  4. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

GermanAustrianSwissCzechHungarian

The family of the name

Other spellings: Rudolph

EnglishRudolph
ItalianRodolfo
SpanishRodolfo
FrenchRodolphe
CzechRudolf

Famous bearers

  • Rudolf I of Habsburg, king of the Romans
  • Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Royal and noble genealogies
  • National birth statistics of European countries source
  • 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.