Rolf

Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys

Meaning

Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name Hrolf, itself a contraction of Hrodwulf, a conjunction of the stem words hrod + wulf. The Old Norse cognate is Hrólfr. An alternative but less common variation of Rolf in Norway is Rolv.

From Wikipedia

Rolf first appears in the data in 1912 and has been recorded in 95 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 1960 with 97 babies (rank #774 that year). In 2024 it was given to 6 boys (rank #12,013). The name has been rising over the last five years.

Numerology of Rolf

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Rolf yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

6Destiny numberThe carerNurturing, responsible, family at the centre.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
6Soul urgeThe carerNurturing, responsible, family at the centre.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
9PersonalityThe humanitarianIdealistic, compassionate, thinks in big-picture terms.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

3,097

Total babies (all years)

Years in the data

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Boys

Famous people named Rolf

Rolf M. Zinkernagelimmunologist · b. 1944
Rolf Sievertuniversity teacher · b. 1896
Rolf Nevanlinnauniversity teacher · b. 1895
Rolf Harrisestrada artist · b. 1930
Rolf Singerscientific collector · b. 1906

Share your Rolf story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular boys' names

Names ranked near Rolf in 2024

Other boys' names starting with R

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1912	9	#1,858
1913	25	#1,020
1914	14	#1,758
1915	23	#1,447
1916	25	#1,411
1917	25	#1,428
1918	25	#1,487
1919	30	#1,314
1920	13	#2,432
1921	24	#1,580
1922	16	#2,125
1923	29	#1,378
1924	23	#1,668
1925	32	#1,296
1926	36	#1,213
1927	37	#1,194
1928	40	#1,121
1929	47	#994
1930	41	#1,092
1931	37	#1,126
1932	43	#1,022
1933	43	#977
1934	52	#878
1935	41	#1,008
1936	49	#878
1937	36	#1,091
1938	48	#920
1939	29	#1,232
1940	39	#1,048
1941	41	#1,015
1942	42	#1,050
1943	31	#1,254
1944	35	#1,133
1945	56	#844
1946	43	#1,056
1947	39	#1,174
1948	51	#985
1949	57	#921
1950	43	#1,083
1951	70	#842
1952	63	#893
1953	58	#947
1954	74	#849
1955	70	#891
1956	72	#889
1957	57	#1,010
1958	67	#935
1959	88	#816
1960	97	#774
1961	82	#850
1962	69	#916
1963	83	#836
1964	66	#943
1965	65	#925
1966	64	#910
1967	47	#1,082
1968	38	#1,246
1969	51	#1,094
1970	36	#1,413
1971	36	#1,435
1972	20	#2,063
1973	35	#1,455
1974	25	#1,877
1975	14	#2,880
1976	25	#1,984
1977	16	#2,762
1978	16	#2,770
1979	11	#3,765
1980	10	#4,071
1981	9	#4,425
1982	13	#3,450
1983	8	#4,831
1984	11	#3,883
1985	10	#4,283
1986	9	#4,767
1988	13	#3,864
1989	6	#7,707
1990	6	#7,920
1991	6	#8,046
1992	13	#4,528
1993	6	#8,487
1994	10	#5,794
1995	7	#7,636
1996	8	#6,984
1997	5	#10,494
1998	8	#7,413
1999	6	#9,651
2000	5	#11,776
2001	5	#11,942
2003	9	#7,705
2014	5	#13,655
2017	5	#13,845
2020	6	#11,727
2022	8	#9,658
2024	6	#12,013