Rolf

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Рольф in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, Roelf in NL Netherlands and Rol'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 10 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◐

Rolf is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name31K records spelled Rolf6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Switzerland, United States, Spain

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Rol'F, Rólf

• French given name5.7K records spelled Rolf3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Switzerland, United States, Congo - Kinshasa

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Rol'F

• Polish given name1.7K records spelled Rolf3 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Rollo, Rol'F

• Czech given name1.3K records spelled Rolf3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, United States

  Languages: Czech, Slovak

  Also written Rol'F

• Croatian given name847 records spelled Rolf13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, Switzerland, Latvia, United States

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian

  Also written Rol'F, Ролф

• Swahili given name799 records spelled Rolf2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Africa, Switzerland, Congo - Kinshasa

  Also written Rol'F

64 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●

Rolf 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 Irish, Germanic ‘fame wolf’; used in medieval Ireland, now rare or obsolete.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In German, from Rudolf, from *hruod- 'fame' + *wulf- 'wolf'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, German surname type; plate shows vowel variation in spellings Rolf/Rölf/Rohlf/Roolf/Roelf. Bearer counts: Rolf 3560, Rölf 201, Rohlf 2110, Roolf 191, Roelf 143.

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

• In German, Surname map showing vowel-length variation: short o versus oo/oh; distribution of the forms in Germany.

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

• In English, from the personal name Rolf, probably from Old Norse Hrólfr; first attested Rolf 1066 DB

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

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) — 96 years between 1912–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Rolf Nevanlinnab. 1895FIFinnish mathematician (1895–1980) known for his research in complex analysis
• Rolf Maximilian Sievertb. 1896SESwedish medical physicist, professor (1896–1966)
• Rolf Hochhuthb. 1931DEGerman writer (1931-2020)
• Ivan Rebroffb. 1931DEnot in their usual nameGerman singer (1931–2008)
• Rolf Zinkernagelb. 1944CHSwiss immunologist (born 1944)
• Peter Stormareb. 1953SEnot in their usual nameSwedish actor, director and musician
• Rolf Saxonb. 1955USAmerican actor
• Oliver Kahnb. 1969DEnot in their usual nameGerman association football player (born 1969)
• Prince Ernst August of Hanoverb. 1983DEnot in their usual nameHanoverian prince (born 1983)
• Jacob Sartoriusb. 2002USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer and Internet personality

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 · 582 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rolf?

We estimate roughly 66 thousand people bear Rolf (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Rolf have the most bearers?

Rolf is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled rolf.

Where is Rolf most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Rolf is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 234 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Rolf compared with other names?

In Germany, Rolf is the 80th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Rolf a male or female name?

Rolf 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 Rolf mean?

Recorded meaning: From the male personal name Rolf, from Old Norse Hrolfr meaning 'fame-wolf', later reinforced by Norman Roul.