Rudolf

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Рудольф in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, KZ Kazakhstan and 2 more and Rudol'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 9 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◐

Rudolf is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name29K records spelled Rudolf5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Philippines, Switzerland

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Italian

  Also written Rudol'F

• French given name9.1K records spelled Rudolf4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Switzerland, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Rudol'F, Rüdolf

• a separate given name6.1K records spelled Rudolf4 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Rudol'F, Rudolf́, Rüdolf

• Danish given name4.5K records spelled Rudolf10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, Norway, United States, Sweden

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian

  Also written Rudol'F, Rüdolf

• Indonesian given name4.1K records spelled Rudolf3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, South Africa

  Also written Rudol'F, Rüdolf

• Hindi given name2.2K records spelled Rudolf4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Switzerland, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Rudol'F

• Swahili given name1.6K records spelled Rudolf3 spellings in the group

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

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Rudol'F

72 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●

Rudolf 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 German, from Germanic *hrōþ- 'fame' + *wulf- 'wolf'

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

• From a Latinized version, Rudolphus, of the Germanic name Hrddwulf (see Rolf). It was introduced to the Englishspeaking world from Germany in the 19th century. Rudolf was a hereditary name among the Habsburgs, the Holy Roman Emperors and rulers of Austria, from the Emperor Rudolf I (1218-91) to

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In German, a male given name from Middle High German, equivalent to English Rudolph

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

• In English, A male given name from Czech or German, equivalent to English Rudolph.

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

• In Czech, a male given name, equivalent to English Rudolph

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

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) — 123 years between 1882–2024. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Emperor Rudolf IIb. 1552ATHoly Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria (1552-1612)
• Rudolf Clausiusb. 1822DEGerman mathematical physicist and professor (1822–1888)
• Rudolf Euckenb. 1846DE(1846-1926) German philosopher
• Heinrich Hertzb. 1857DEnot in their usual nameGerman physicist (1857–1894)
• Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austriab. 1858ATAustrian archduke (1858-1889)
• Rudolf Hessb. 1894DEGerman Nazi leader and Reich Minister without Portfolio (1894–1987)
• Rudolf Dasslerb. 1898DEGerman businessman (1898–1974)
• Rudolf Mössbauerb. 1929DEGerman nuclear physicist and Noble Prize in Physics
• Rudolf Schusterb. 1934SKSlovak President, head of Slovak National Council and politician
• Rudi Völlerb. 1960DEnot in their usual nameGerman footballer and manager (born 1960)

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 · 721 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Rudolf?

We estimate roughly 93 thousand people bear Rudolf (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Rudolf have the most bearers?

Rudolf is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled rudolf.

Where is Rudolf most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Rudolf is densest in the Czechia — about 1 in 226 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Rudolf compared with other names?

In Germany, Rudolf is the 97th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Rudolf a male or female name?

Rudolf 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 Rudolf mean?

Recorded meaning: from Germanic Rudolf, literally ‘fame-wolf’