Rudi

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ruedi in CH Switzerland, UA Ukraine.

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 14 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◐

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

• Hindi given name10K records spelled Rudi3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Malaysia, South Africa

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Rüdi

• Croatian given name2.5K records spelled Rudi22 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, Slovenia, Bulgaria

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovenian

  Also written Rudy, Руди, Rudie, Rüdy, Rudí

• a separate given name1.5K records spelled Rudi4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Netherlands, Belgium

  Also written Rüdi, Rúdi, Rūdī

57 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●

Rudi 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 English, A diminutive of the male given name Rudolf, from German.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swahili, Kiswahili: 'to return'

  as a name·African Names

• In English, Teutonic; a famous wolf

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

• beauty; lustre; light; desire; zest; pleasure.

  as a name·The Penguin book of Hindu names for boys

• In German, ) Rudy: männl. Vom., Koseform von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

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●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 89 years between 1918–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Rudi Fehrb. 1911DEGerman-American film editor (1911-1999)
• Rudi Gernreichb. 1922USAmerican fashion designer and gay activist (1922-1985)
• Rudi Carrellb. 1934NLentertainer on Dutch and German television (1934–2006)
• Egon Krenzb. 1937DEnot in their usual nameGerman politician, communist leader of East Germany
• Rudi Dutschkeb. 1940DEGerman student activist (1940–1979)
• Rudi Dornbuschb. 1942USGerman economist (1942–2002)
• Peter R. Adamb. 1957DEnot in their usual nameGerman film editor (1957–2023)
• Rudi Völlerb. 1960DEGerman footballer and manager (born 1960)
• Rudi Garciab. 1964FRFrench football manager
• Sheraldo Beckerb. 1995NLnot in their usual nameSurinamese association football player (born 1995)

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 · 955 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rudi?

We estimate roughly 7.1 thousand people bear Rudi (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Rudi have the most bearers?

Rudi is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled rudi.

How common is Rudi compared with other names?

In Germany, Rudi is the 332nd most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Rudi a male or female name?

Rudi 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 Rudi mean?

Recorded meaning: a diminutive of the male given name Rudolf, equivalent to English Rudy