Rolf Surname

47,571st
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 10,875 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Germany
Highest density in:
Germany

Rolf Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Rudolph,' from the nick. Rolf or Rolph. As Ralph represented Randolph, so Rolph or Rolf stood for Rudolph. Lower says it is the same as Ralph, and adds, 'The great landowner Goisfrid de Bee, son of Rollo, and grandson of Crispinus, baron of Bee, is styled in Domesday "filius Rolf"': Patronymica Britannica.

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Rolf Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Germany5,0831:15,8382,083
United States3,3771:107,33211,756
England5641:98,79110,454
Sweden5201:18,9361,589
Netherlands2761:61,18510,518
Russia1191:1,211,11888,466
Canada1131:326,06729,799
Bolivia1011:105,1134,073
Poland881:431,91844,930
Dominican Republic851:122,7405,063
Czechia641:166,14825,172
Denmark601:94,0798,936
Australia541:499,92037,885
Switzerland381:216,12918,575
France341:1,953,609166,012
Norway271:190,45522,163
Austria241:354,81038,119
Israel231:372,07130,321
Thailand201:3,531,917315,217
Brazil191:11,267,070228,483
Wales171:182,03112,022
Singapore171:323,98313,856
Estonia151:88,12015,474
South Africa151:3,611,847123,156
Kazakhstan131:1,360,19271,840
New Zealand121:377,36028,765
Papua New Guinea101:815,37288,623
Cambodia91:1,720,7946,732
Northern Ireland91:205,0049,958
Ukraine71:6,503,242257,739
Belgium51:2,299,329106,824
Taiwan41:5,861,18633,577
Hungary31:3,272,09262,568
Philippines31:33,746,074302,898
Scotland31:1,784,60641,943
India31:255,688,4611,306,352
Hong Kong31:2,445,1619,595
United Arab Emirates21:4,581,13693,443
Spain21:23,376,018128,922
Finland21:2,748,35172,663
Peru21:15,892,06251,966
Ecuador21:7,952,92334,269
China21:683,660,78330,601
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Vanuatu11:263,2762,086
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Senegal11:14,579,34211,705
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
Armenia11:2,930,18022,770
Belarus11:9,501,059159,228
Chile11:17,616,47493,597
Congo11:4,989,09634,171
Egypt11:91,935,754132,737
Ethiopia11:97,546,26229,669
Gibraltar11:33,9541,660
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Guernsey11:64,4392,137
Iran11:76,782,524277,718
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Italy11:61,156,688199,583
Ivory Coast11:23,071,23276,679
Japan11:127,844,29373,547
Malaysia11:29,494,225409,885
Mauritius11:1,293,41716,552
Mexico11:124,126,205103,776
Mozambique11:27,261,5697,432
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland11:4,429,86640,727
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England5471:44,5625,546
Wales61:261,4039,165
Scotland11:3,743,21632,299
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,0671:47,0655,401

Rolf (532,922) may also be a first name.

Rolf Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Rudolph,' from the nick. Rolf or Rolph. As Ralph represented Randolph, so Rolph or Rolf stood for Rudolph. Lower says it is the same as Ralph, and adds, 'The great landowner Goisfrid de Bee, son of Rollo, and grandson of Crispinus, baron of Bee, is styled in Domesday "filius Rolf"': Patronymica Britannica.

Allan Rolfe, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Roger Rolf, Huntingdonshire, ibid.

John Rolf, Oxfordshire, ibid.

1614. Robert Rolfe and Cicely Pratt: Marriage Lic. (London).

1654. Married — Jasper Devenish and Elizabeth Rolph: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1721. — Thomas Rolph and Ann Bates: St. Mary Aldermary.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

Contraction of Rodolf, q.v.

John Rolf.—Hundred Rolls Rolf is fairly common in Domesday- Book. It was the name of the first Duke of Normandy (Rolf-r or Hrolf-r, contraction from Hróþúlf-r and Latinized Rollo). Rolv and Rolf are the mod. Norwegian forms.

There has been some contusion with Ralf(e, q.v.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) Descendant of Rolf (fame, wolf).

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

The same as Rollo, Radulph, or Ralph. The great landholder, Goisfrid de Bec, son of Rollo, and grandson of Crispinus, baron of Bec, is styled in Domes-day "Filius Rolf."

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Rolf Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Rolf Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Rolf (Russian: Рольф) occurs more in Germany more than any other country/territory. It can also be rendered as a variant:. For other potential spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Rolf? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 47,571st most commonly used family name globally It is held by around 1 in 670,119 people. The last name Rolf occurs mostly in Europe, where 64 percent of Rolf live; 50 percent live in Western Europe and 50 percent live in Germanic Europe. It is also the 1,883rd most prevalent first name world-wide It is held by 532,922 people.

Rolf is most commonly used in Germany, where it is borne by 5,083 people, or 1 in 15,838. In Germany Rolf is primarily concentrated in: North Rhine-Westphalia, where 55 percent reside, Lower Saxony, where 22 percent reside and Hamburg, where 5 percent reside. Barring Germany it is found in 68 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 31 percent reside and England, where 5 percent reside.

Rolf Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Rolf has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people who held the Rolf surname grew 316 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it grew 103 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it grew 283 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it grew 300 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Rolf Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those bearing the surname is chiefly Catholic (100%) in Ireland and Orthodox (80%) in Russia.

In The United States those bearing the Rolf last name are 11.77% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 58.54% registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Rolf earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 19.23% less than the national average, earning 279,529 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 103.14% more than the national average, earning R 482,736 per year; in United States they earn 8% more than the national average, earning $46,602 USD per year and in Canada they earn 3.62% more than the national average, earning $51,482 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Rolfe8919,982/
Rolfs892,600/
Rohlf892,155/
Rolff89874/
Roelf89662/
Rollf89294/
Roolf89182/
Rolhf8928/
Roulf894/
Rolft892/
Rholf891/
Rolfh890/
Roolfs80252/
Rolffs80153/
Rohlff80132/
Rollfs8049/
Rohllf8041/
Rholfs804/
Roelff802/
Roself801/
Rholff801/
Rolffe801/
Rohlft801/
Rolhfs801/
Roulfs801/
Rotlff801/
Rollfe801/
Roolfe800/
Rolfch800/
Rholfe800/
Ralf751,179/
Rulf75821/
Rülf756/
Rolv755/
Rolb754/
Rohlffs73172/
Geerolf73152/
Rolfová7359/
Rothlef731/
Rolfova731/
Roulhfs730/
Rotleff730/
Rohllfs730/
Rolph674,954/
Rahlf671,451/
Raulf671,337/
Ralfs67725/
Ralfe67525/
Rulfs67183/
Rulff67118/
Ralff6756/
Routleff6736/
Raalf679/
Rallf671/
Reulf671/
Rhulf671/
Ralfh671/
Rulfe670/

Rolf Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Rolf in the Russian language
Рольфrolf-

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Rolf Reference & Research

Rofe FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Rolf
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis