Graf

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Gaurav in IN India, AU Australia, BR Brazil and 12 more, Graaf in NL Netherlands, FR France, BE Belgium and 1 more and Gourab in BD Bangladesh.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 6 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Graf is also recorded as 9 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname26K records spelled Graf9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, Brazil, United States, Mexico

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Gräf, Gráf

• Polish surname8.8K records spelled Graf21 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Czechia, Croatia, United States

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Croatian

  Also written Gráf, Граф, Gräf

• French surname7.9K records spelled Graf6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Switzerland, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Gräf, Gràf, Gráf

• a separate surname4.7K records spelled Graf3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Gräf, Gráf

• Danish surname1.0K records spelled Graf7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish

  Also written Gräf

• Hungarian surname687 records spelled Graf4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, Switzerland, United States, Slovenia

  Also written Gráf, Gräf, Gràf

• Russian surname628 records spelled Graf14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Türkiye

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Граф, Графф, Graff, Gräff, Gräf

• Swahili surname520 records spelled Graf4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, South Africa

  Also written Gräf

• Finnish surname438 records spelled Graf4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Switzerland, United States, Estonia

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Gräf

49 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Graf is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• It was a title name (bestowing honour). It exists in the Bretten area, Heidelsheim, Palatinate, Middle Rhine district, and since 1827 in Murg and Pfinzkreis; also in Lörrach, Baden.

  as a name·The Origin of Jewish Family Names: Morphology and History

• In German, From MHG graf ‘count’; surname shows vowel variants a/e/ä/o/u/ö/i in forms like Greve, Graff, Gräf, Greif. Bearer count not given.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

• In German, Plate on vowel variation in Graf/Gräf/Greve.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

• In German, ornamental name selected, like Herzog and other words denoting titles, because of their aristocratic connotations.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In German, count, earl

  as a word·A Frequency Dictionary of German

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

FR INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) — 11 years between 1891–1991. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ulrich Grafb. 1878DEGerman general (1878-1950)
• Oskar Maria Grafb. 1894DEGerman writer and activist (1894-1967)
• Herbert Grafb. 1903ATAustrian-American opera producer (1903–1973)
• Hermann Grafb. 1912DEGerman officer and fighter pilot during World War II (1912–1988)
• Willi Grafb. 1918DEGerman military physician and resistance fighter, "White Rose" member (1918–1943)
• Robert Grafb. 1923DEGerman actor (1923–1966)
• David Grafb. 1950USAmerican actor (1950–2001)
• Dominik Grafb. 1952DEGerman film and television director, screenwriter
• Steffi Grafb. 1969DEGerman tennis player
• Stephanie Grafb. 1973ATAustrian middle distance runner

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 79 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Graf?

We estimate roughly 5.0 thousand people bear Graf (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Graf have the most bearers?

Graf is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled gaurav.

How common is Graf compared with other names?

In India, Graf is the 238th most common given name of 4,777,337 given names recorded there.

What does the name Graf mean?

Recorded meaning: From Middle High German grave/grabe; may denote a title-holder, servant, or an affected person, and can also be an invented Jewish name.