Ralph

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ralf in DE Germany, FI Finland, DK Denmark and 3 more, רלף in FR France, IL Israel and Ral'F in LV Latvia.

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 13 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◐

Ralph is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name268K records spelled Ralph48 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Brazil, Philippines

  Languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Raoul, Raoûl, Ràlph, Radulf, Radolf

• Hindi given name17K records spelled Ralph8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Philippines, India

  Languages: Hindi, Sinhala, Urdu

  Also written Rälph

• Hungarian given name5.9K records spelled Ralph5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hungary, United States, Finland, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Rälph, Ràlph

78 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●

Ralph 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.

• In French, Germanic origin; from Radulf/Ralph, 'counsel wolf'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, from the personal name Rauf/Ralph; earliest cited as John ap Rauf (1292, Brecon).

  as a name·Welsh Surnames

• In English, Old English; wolf counsellor, fearless adviser

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• - From a Norman French name, Raulf, a contracted form of the Germanic personal name Radulf, derived from rad ‘counsel’ + wulf ‘wolf’. The spelling with -ph is due to classical influence in the 18th century. Variants: Ralf, Rafe.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, posed of the Gmc elements ric power + tetd/wolf. This was introduced to Britain by the Normans. Vars.: Relf(e), Realff Rentoul see Rintoul Remers see Reinmar

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ralph Waldo Emersonb. 1803USAmerican philosopher (1803–1882)
• Ralph Ellisonb. 1914USAmerican novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
• Ralph Nelsonb. 1916USAmerican film and television director (1916–1987)
• Ralph Meekerb. 1920USAmerican actor (1920-1988)
• Ralph Asher Alpherb. 1921USAmerican cosmologist (1921–2007)
• Ralph Laurenb. 1939USAmerican fashion designer (born 1939)
• Ralph Macchiob. 1961USAmerican actor (born 1961)
• Ralph Garmanb. 1964USAmerican actor
• Ralph Egglestonb. 1965USAmerican animator (1965–2022)
• Ralph Inesonb. 1969GBBritish actor

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 · 921 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ralph?

We estimate roughly 176 thousand people bear Ralph (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Ralph have the most bearers?

Ralph is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled ralf.

How common is Ralph compared with other names?

In Germany, Ralph is the 28th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Ralph a male or female name?

Ralph is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ralph mean?

Recorded meaning: From the male personal name Ralph, from Old Norse Ráðúlfr, later reinforced by Norman Radulf/Raulf, literally ‘advice-wolf’.