Rudolf
Masculine · “famous wolf”
A department store needed a giveaway book for Christmas, and a copywriter wrote one about a reindeer. He chose the name from a shortlist that also included Reginald and Rollo, his four-year-old daughter approved it, and within twenty years the name belonged to the reindeer and to nobody else.
How old is the name Rudolf?
Rudolf first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Rudolf alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 1,200 people named Rudolf are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rudolf most popular?
Rudolf peaked in 1916, reaching #715 nationally. See the whole 1916 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hrodwulf to Rudolf
The story of Rudolf
Robert May wrote the story for Montgomery Ward in nineteen thirty-nine, and the store gave away millions of copies. A decade later his brother-in-law set it to music, a singing cowboy recorded it, and it became one of the best-selling records ever made. Before all that, Rudolf was an ordinary German and Austrian name carried by emperors, a crown prince and a great many farmers, and it had been in American records since the beginning of the count. The f spelling is the German one; the ph spelling is the Latinized version English preferred, and the reindeer took the second.
Meaning
famous wolf
The Germanic compound joins a word for fame or glory to the animal. Wolf names were common across the Germanic world and carried no unpleasant sense; the wolf was a fighter rather than a menace.
How the name formed
- Hrodwulf
- Rudolf
Related forms: Rudolf · Rodolfo · Rodolfo · Rudolf · Rodolphe
Pronouncing Rudolf
ROO-dolf
Two syllables with the weight at the front. German gives the second syllable more value and says the final consonant harder.
Nicknames for Rudolf
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 192782 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #715reached in 1916
- Change vs 2022
- −25.0%6 in 2024, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rudolf in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Rudolf in German — same name
- Rodolfo in Italian — same name
- Rodolfo in Spanish — same name
- Rudolf in Czech — same name
- Rodolphe in French — same name
Rudolfs among us
people named Rudolf are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Rudolf sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is a standing name across Germany, Austria, Czechia and Scandinavia.
- Rudy is a ready short form and a complete name in its own right.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the earliest years of the count.
- One reindeer owns the name in America and shows no sign of giving it back.
- Rudolph is the commoner English spelling and will be written instead.
- It reads clearly as a name of the early twentieth century here.
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What they receive
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Rudolf
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rudolfs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Rudolf are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rudolf in 2025?
- Rudolf is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rudolf with classmates?
- Rudolf will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rudolf? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rudolf and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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