Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins.
The name is a compound derived from the Old High German Athalwolf (or Hadulf), a composition of athal, or adal, meaning "noble" (or had(u)-, meaning "battle, combat"), and wolf. The name is cognate to the Anglo-Saxon name Æthelwulf (also Eadulf or Eadwulf). The name can also be derived from the ancient Germanic elements "Wald" meaning "power", "brightness" and wolf (Waldwulf).
Due to its extremely negative associations with the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the name has greatly declined in popularity since the end of World War II.
Similar names include Lithuanian Adolfas and Latvian Ādolfs. The female forms Adolphine and Adolpha are far more rare than the male names.
Popularity and usage Before the 20th-century, Adolf was a relatively common name for baby boys in German-speaking countries and to a lesser extent also in French-speaking regions of Europe (spelled as Adolphe in France). After Adolf Hitler came to power in Nazi Germany, the name became more fashionable in German-speaking Europe until the early 1940s. However, after the defeat of Germany, and the revelations about the atrocities of the Nazi regime, the negative associations with Hitler meant that the name has declined in use as a given name for males to the extent of statistical irrelevance, though some Germans continue using the name due to family tradition. Adolf Dassler (1900-1978), the founder of Adidas, preferred to use his nickname, 'Adi', in his professional life and for the name of his company.
Similarly, the French version, Adolphe, previously a fairly common name in France and the name of a classic novel by Benjamin Constant, has virtually disappeared, as has the Italian version Adolfo. In Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s 2010 play What's in a Name?, and its 2012 film adaptation, a couple pranks their dinner guests by announcing that they will name their unborn child Adolphe, in homage to Constant’s novel, which backfires and starts a series of arguments. However, the Spanish and Portuguese version, Adolfo, has not become stigmatised in the same way and is still in common use.
Monarchs and nobles Ealdwulf of East Anglia (c. 634 – 713), King of East Anglia Adulf mcEtulfe (died 934), King of Bamburgh Eadwulf Evil-child (fl. 968–970), ruler of Bamburgh Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (1710–1771) Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1817–1893) Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1883–1936) Adolf of Altena (1157–1220), Archbishop of Cologne Adolf of Nassau (1540–1568), Count of Nassau, brother of William the Silent Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1300–1327) Adolf, Duke of Bavaria (1434–1441) Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (1526–1586) Adolf, Duke of Jülich-Berg (1370–1437) Adolf, King of the Romans (1255–1298), King of Germany Adolph I, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (d. 1473) Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1458–1526) Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1817–1905) Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge (1868–1927) Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1658–1708) Adolphus VIII, Count of Holstein (1401–1459), Duke of southern Jutland Adulf Evil-child (fl. AD 973), more commonly known as Eadwulf Evil-child, Earl of Bamburgh Audulf (fl. ), a Frisian lord or moneyer known for his golden tremisses Ernest Augustus William Adolphus George Frederick, Crown Prince of Hanover (1845–1923) Gustaf IV Adolf (1778–1837), King of Sweden Gustaf VI Adolf (1882–1973), King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe (1859–1917), regent of Lippe Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774–1850), son of George III of the United Kingdom Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (1906–1947), Prince of Sweden
Saints Saint Adulf, early medieval Anglo-Saxon saint St. Adolphus, 9th-century Spanish martyr St. Adolf of Osnabrück, 13th-century German martyr St. Adolphus Ludigo-Mkasa, 19th-century Ugandan martyr
People with the given name in any variant Adolf A–G Adolf Albin (1848–1920), Romanian chess player Adolf Althoff (1913–1998), German circus owner Adolf Anderssen (1818–1879), German chess player Adolf Appellöf (1857–1921), Swedish zoologist Gustav Badin né Adolf Ludvig Gustav Fredrik Albert Couchi (1747/1750 – 1822), Swedish court servant Adolf von Baeyer (1835–1917), German chemist who synthesised indigo and developed a nomenclature for cyclic compounds Adolf Bastian (1826–1905), German anthropologist Adolf Bauer (1940–2026), German politician Adolf Beck (1863–1942), Polish physician and pioneer of electroencephalography Adolf Beck case (1841–1909), Norwegian whose mistaken identity led to court of criminal appeal Adolf van den Berg (1978–2023), South African cricketer Adolf A. Berle (1895–1971), American lawyer, educator, author, and diplomat Ādolfs Bļodnieks (1889–1962), 9th Prime Minister of Latvia Adolf Bniński (1884–1942), Polish agricultural, conservative, and royalist activist Adolf Born (1930–2016), Czech artist and filmmaker Adolf Brand (1874–1945), German journalist Adolf Brudes (1899–1986), German racing driver Adolf Busch (1891–1952), German violinist and composer Adolf Butenandt (1903–1995), German biochemist Adolf Čech (1841–1903), Czech conductor Adolf Charlemagne or Sharleman, Russian painter (1826–1901) Adolf Cluss (1825–1905), German-American architect Adolf Daens (1839–1907), Belgian theologian Adolf "Adi" Dassler (1900–1978), German entrepreneur and founder of Adidas Adolf Dehn (1895–1968), American lithographer Adolf Deucher (1831–1912), Swiss politician Adolph Diesterweg (1790–1866), German educator Adolph Dubs (1920–1979), Assassinated American ambassador Adolf Dymsza (1900–1975), Polish comic actor Adolf Ehrnrooth (1905–2004), Finnish general Adolf Eichler (1869–1911), German civil architect Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962), German/Austrian Nazi SS officer (1815–1872), German politician Adolf Etolin (1799–1876), Finnish explorer Adolf Eugen Fick (1829–1901), German inventor Adolf Fischer (officer) (1893–1947), German Nazi general Adolf Froelich (1887–1943), Polish inventor Adolf Furrer (1873–1958), Swiss inventor Adolf Galland (1912–1996), German fighter pilot Adolf Glassbrenner (1810–1876), German humourist Eddy Goldfarb (born 1921), birth name Adolf, American inventor of Yakity Yak Talking Teeth Adolf Grünbaum (1923–2018), German-American philosopher of science Adolf Guttmacher (1861–1915), German-American rabbi Adolf Guyer-Zeller (1839–1899), Swiss entrepreneur
H–M Adolf Abraham Halevi Fraenkel (1891–1965), German-Israeli mathematician Adolf Hamann (1885–1945), German Nazi general (1888–1941), German mathematician Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930), German theologian Johann Adolph Hasse (1699–1783), German composer Adolf Hedin (1834–1905), Swedish newspaper publisher and politician Adolf Hempt (1874–1943), Serbian biologist, founder of the Pasteur Institute in Novi Sad Adolf von Henselt (1814–1889), German composer Adolf Eduard Herstein (1869–1932), Polish-born painter and engraver Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982), German military officer Adolf von Hildebrand (1847–1921), German sculptor Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld (1823–1907), German theologian Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl (1860–1933), Hungarian Jewish artist Adolf Hirner (born 1965), Austrian ski jumper Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), German dictator and leader of the Nazi Party Adolf Hurwitz (1859–1919), German mathematician Adolf Holtzmann (1810–1870), German philologist Adolf Hütter (born 1970), Austrian footballer Adolf Jahr (1893–1946), Swedish actor and operetta singer Adolf Jensen (1837–1879), German pianist, composer, and teacher Adolf von Jordans (1892–1974), German ornithologist Adolf Just (1859–1936), German naturalist and founder of Luvos Adolf Kaufmann (1848–1916), Austrian landscape painter Adolf Kertész (1892–1920), Hungarian footballer Adolf Kneser (1862–1930), German mathematician Adolph Freiherr Knigge (1752–1796), German writer, Freemason Adolf Köster (1883–1930), German politician Adolf Kussmaul (1822–1902), German physician and the first to describe dyslexia Adolf Lande (1905 – ), German drug-control official Adolf Lindenbaum (1904–1941), Polish mathematician Adolf Loos (1870–1933), Austrian architect Adolf Lorenz (1854–1946), Austrian orthopedic surgeon Adolf Lundin (1932–2006), Swedish oil magnate Adolf Malan (born 1961), South African rugby union footballer Adolf Lu Hitler Marak (born ), Indian politician Adolf Mayer (1843–1942), German agricultural chemist who worked on tobacco mosaic disease Adolph Menzel (1815–1905), German painter Adolf Merckle (1934–2009), German entrepreneur and billionaire Adolf Meyer (architect) (1881–1929), German architect Adolf Meyer (psychiatrist) (1866–1950), Swiss-American psychiatrist
N–Z Adolf van Nieuwenaar ( – 1589), Dutch statesman and soldier, stadtholder of Overijssel, Guelders and Utrecht Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901), Finnish-Swedish explorer Adolf Noreen (1854–1925), Swedish linguist Adolf Oberländer (1845–1923), German caricaturist Adolf Ogi (born 1942), Swiss politician Adolf Opálka (1915–1942), Czech anti-Nazi fighter Adolf Overweg (1822–1852), German scientist Adolf Petrovsky (1887–1937), Soviet diplomat Adolf Pilar von Pilchau (1851–1925), Baltic German politician Adolf Pilch (1914–2000), Polish resistance fighter Adolf Pinner (1842–1909), German chemist Adolf Real (1858–1916), mayor of Vaduz Adolf Reichwein (1898–1944), German educator and economist who resisted the policies of Nazi Germany Adolf Reinach (1883–1917), German phenomenologist Adolf Rosenberger (1900–1967), German-Jewish businessman, founder of the Porsche company Adolf Rudnicki (1912–1990), Polish-Jewish author Adolf Rzepko (1825–1892), Polish composer Adolf Friedrich von Schack (1815–1894), German poet Adolph Salomonsohn (1831–1919), German banker influenced the establishment of the German stock market Adolf Schallamach (1905–1997), German-born British scientist that worked on rubber friction Adolf Schaller (1956–2024), American visual artist Adolf Schärf (1890–1965), President of Austria Adolf Scherer (1938–2023), Slovak footballer of German descent Adolf Schlagintweit (1829–1857), German explorer Adolf Schmal (1872–1919), Austrian fencer Adolf Schreyer (1828–1899), German painter Adolf Schwarz (1836–1910), Austro-Hungarian chess master Adolf Seefeldt (1870–1936), known as The Sandman, German serial killer Adolf Shayevich (born 1937), Rabbi of the Moscow Choral Synagogue and one of two Chief Rabbis of Russia Adolf Smekal (1895–1959), Austrian physicist Adolf Stelzer (1908–1977), Swiss footballer Adolf Stieler (1775–1836), German cartographer Adolf Stoecker (1835–1909), German theologian Adolf Strauss (composer) (1902–1944), Czech pianist, violinist, composer, and kapellmeister Adolf Strauss (general) (1879–1973), general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany Adolf Theuer (1920–1947), German SS officer at Auschwitz concentration camp Adolf Tolkachev (1927–1986), Soviet engineer and CIA spy Adolf von Sonnenthal (1834–1909), Austrian actor Adolf "Dado" Topić (born 1949), Croatian singer Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe (1868–1944), Lithuanian nobleman, lawyer and politician Adolf Uunona (born 1965), a Namibian politician Adolf Walbrook (1896–1967), Austrian actor Adolf Wahrmund (1827–1913), Austrian-German orientalist Adolf Ferdinand Weinhold (1841–1917), German chemist, physician and inventor Adolf Wilbrandt (1837–1911), German novelist Adolf Windaus (1876–1959), German chemist Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930), Swiss artist Adolf Zábranský (1909–1981), Czech illustrator and painter Adolf Zeising (1810–1876), German psychologist Adolf Ziegler (1892–1959), German painter and politician Adolf Zutter (1889–1947), German SS concentration camp officer Adolf Zytogorski ( – 1882), Polish-British chess master and translator
Adolfas Adolfas Ramanauskas (1918–1957), American born Lithuanian partisan