Adolf
Adolf was last recorded in 1990, when 5 babies were given it; 1,394 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 1990 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Adolf by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Adolf mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Adolf is “a male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Adolph.” Its etymology gives the senses “noble” (adal) and “wolf” (wulf).
From Old High German adal (“noble”) + wulf (“wolf”). Doublet of Ethelwolf from Old English Æþelwulf.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Adolf?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #8,125, in 1990; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
56 babies in 1918, the peak
Adolf peaked in 1918, when 56 boys were given it, #889 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 5 | #8,125 | 2.4 |
| 1983 | 7 | #4,918 | 3.9 |
| 1980 | 5 | #6,259 | 2.8 |
| 1979 | 5 | #6,065 | 2.9 |
| 1976 | 5 | #5,592 | 3.2 |
| 1975 | 6 | #4,800 | 3.8 |
| 1973 | 5 | #5,103 | 3.2 |
| 1972 | 7 | #3,963 | 4.3 |
| 1971 | 5 | #4,910 | 2.8 |
| 1970 | 10 | #3,070 | 5.4 |
Every recorded year (86)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 9 | #3,063 | 5.0 |
| 1968 | 10 | #2,734 | 5.8 |
| 1966 | 7 | #3,249 | 3.9 |
| 1965 | 10 | #2,618 | 5.4 |
| 1964 | 12 | #2,408 | 6.0 |
| 1963 | 12 | #2,413 | 5.9 |
| 1962 | 5 | #4,036 | 2.4 |
| 1961 | 10 | #2,706 | 4.7 |
| 1960 | 12 | #2,422 | 5.6 |
| 1959 | 12 | #2,415 | 5.6 |
| 1958 | 8 | #3,033 | 3.8 |
| 1957 | 11 | #2,493 | 5.1 |
| 1956 | 9 | #2,799 | 4.3 |
| 1955 | 10 | #2,558 | 4.9 |
| 1954 | 10 | #2,592 | 4.9 |
| 1952 | 7 | #3,095 | 3.6 |
| 1951 | 6 | #3,366 | 3.2 |
| 1950 | 9 | #2,581 | 5.0 |
| 1949 | 10 | #2,452 | 5.6 |
| 1948 | 5 | #3,673 | 2.8 |
| 1947 | 5 | #3,735 | 2.7 |
| 1945 | 7 | #2,743 | 5.2 |
| 1944 | 5 | #3,433 | 3.7 |
| 1943 | 8 | #2,736 | 5.6 |
| 1941 | 14 | #1,903 | 11.4 |
| 1940 | 21 | #1,472 | 18.1 |
| 1939 | 16 | #1,713 | 14.5 |
| 1938 | 12 | #2,084 | 10.8 |
| 1937 | 21 | #1,481 | 19.7 |
| 1936 | 20 | #1,505 | 19.3 |
| 1935 | 16 | #1,757 | 15.4 |
| 1934 | 21 | #1,499 | 20.3 |
| 1933 | 17 | #1,707 | 17.1 |
| 1932 | 22 | #1,509 | 21.1 |
| 1931 | 25 | #1,394 | 24.0 |
| 1930 | 38 | #1,133 | 34.6 |
| 1929 | 24 | #1,480 | 22.3 |
| 1928 | 51 | #950 | 46.0 |
| 1927 | 36 | #1,199 | 31.9 |
| 1926 | 40 | #1,125 | 36.0 |
| 1925 | 40 | #1,108 | 35.8 |
| 1924 | 42 | #1,107 | 37.1 |
| 1923 | 41 | #1,114 | 37.4 |
| 1922 | 23 | #1,591 | 21.1 |
| 1921 | 50 | #991 | 45.4 |
| 1920 | 46 | #1,020 | 43.2 |
| 1919 | 46 | #999 | 46.9 |
| 1918 | 56 | #889 | 55.3 |
| 1917 | 50 | #900 | 54.0 |
| 1916 | 55 | #840 | 61.8 |
| 1915 | 45 | #925 | 53.0 |
| 1914 | 37 | #898 | 56.5 |
| 1913 | 22 | #1,075 | 42.9 |
| 1912 | 23 | #935 | 53.5 |
| 1911 | 13 | #924 | 57.5 |
| 1910 | 11 | #981 | 56.6 |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,155 | 42.7 |
| 1908 | 10 | #879 | 64.8 |
| 1907 | 5 | #1,344 | 34.1 |
| 1906 | 9 | #852 | 67.6 |
| 1904 | 5 | #1,207 | 39.0 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,131 | 41.9 |
| 1902 | 8 | #862 | 65.2 |
| 1901 | 6 | #943 | 56.4 |
| 1900 | 8 | #968 | 53.2 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,053 | 47.1 |
| 1897 | 8 | #787 | 70.9 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,102 | 41.8 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,075 | 43.2 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,065 | 41.0 |
| 1891 | 10 | #599 | 98.8 |
| 1885 | 7 | #765 | 64.9 |
| 1884 | 6 | #848 | 52.4 |
| 1883 | 6 | #799 | 57.3 |
| 1882 | 5 | #943 | 44.0 |
| 1880 | 6 | #809 | 54.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Adolf a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Adolf has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 86 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Adolf: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Adolf, and how old are they?
An estimated 234 Americans named Adolf and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (17% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 57 and 76. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 1,083 people named Adolf (7 women and girls, 1,076 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 306 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.5 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Adolf rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Adolf born?
The states with the most babies named Adolf are New York, Texas and Illinois, with 81% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 168 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Texas | 69 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 20 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| New Jersey | 18 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Massachusetts | 17 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Connecticut | 6 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Michigan | 6 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Wisconsin | 5 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where Adolf is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Adolf is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Adolf with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 20,159 babies since 1880, Adolf is the second most given (6.9% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Adolf
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Adolf and names like it
- Compare Adolf and AdolphBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sAdolf peaked in 1918.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Adolf since 1910.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Adolf.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Adolf alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with AMost given first.