Rolf
Rolf was given to 5 boys in 2025, #13,492 among boys’ names; 3,103 Americans have been recorded with it since 1912 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,630 Americans named Rolf and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (53% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 56 and 72.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Rolf by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Rolf mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Rolf is “a male given name from the Germanic languages.”
From Old Norse Hrólfr, and from its Old French equivalent, cognates of Rudolph. Brought to England by the Normans, survived in surnames and was revived in the 19th century, partly due to its modern Scandinavian cognate.
/ɹɒlf/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Rolf?
#13,492 among boys’ names, 2025
Rolf entered the boys’ rankings after 2015 and stood at #13,492 in 2025.
96 babies in 1960, the peak
Rolf peaked in 1960, when 96 boys were given it, #780 among boys’ names. The 5 births of 2025 are 5% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #13,492 | 2.9 |
| 2024 | 6 | #12,059 | 3.5 |
| 2022 | 8 | #9,657 | 4.6 |
| 2020 | 6 | #11,728 | 3.5 |
| 2017 | 5 | #13,843 | 2.7 |
| 2014 | 5 | #13,653 | 2.6 |
| 2003 | 9 | #7,699 | 4.6 |
| 2001 | 5 | #11,935 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 5 | #11,769 | 2.5 |
| 1999 | 6 | #9,644 | 3.1 |
Every recorded year (96)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 8 | #7,406 | 4.2 |
| 1997 | 5 | #10,488 | 2.7 |
| 1996 | 8 | #6,976 | 4.2 |
| 1995 | 7 | #7,631 | 3.7 |
| 1994 | 10 | #5,789 | 5.2 |
| 1993 | 6 | #8,481 | 3.1 |
| 1992 | 13 | #4,521 | 6.5 |
| 1991 | 6 | #8,038 | 3.0 |
| 1990 | 6 | #7,914 | 2.9 |
| 1989 | 6 | #7,700 | 3.0 |
| 1988 | 13 | #3,858 | 6.8 |
| 1986 | 9 | #4,763 | 4.9 |
| 1985 | 10 | #4,279 | 5.4 |
| 1984 | 11 | #3,880 | 6.1 |
| 1983 | 8 | #4,828 | 4.5 |
| 1982 | 13 | #3,449 | 7.2 |
| 1981 | 9 | #4,422 | 5.0 |
| 1980 | 10 | #4,071 | 5.6 |
| 1979 | 11 | #3,763 | 6.4 |
| 1978 | 16 | #2,770 | 9.7 |
| 1977 | 16 | #2,761 | 9.7 |
| 1976 | 25 | #1,982 | 15.9 |
| 1975 | 14 | #2,877 | 9.0 |
| 1974 | 25 | #1,877 | 15.9 |
| 1973 | 35 | #1,455 | 22.5 |
| 1972 | 20 | #2,064 | 12.3 |
| 1971 | 36 | #1,435 | 20.4 |
| 1970 | 36 | #1,412 | 19.4 |
| 1969 | 51 | #1,093 | 28.5 |
| 1968 | 38 | #1,246 | 21.9 |
| 1967 | 47 | #1,082 | 27.0 |
| 1966 | 64 | #910 | 35.9 |
| 1965 | 65 | #925 | 34.9 |
| 1964 | 66 | #943 | 33.1 |
| 1963 | 83 | #837 | 40.9 |
| 1962 | 69 | #915 | 33.4 |
| 1961 | 83 | #844 | 39.1 |
| 1960 | 96 | #780 | 45.0 |
| 1959 | 88 | #815 | 41.2 |
| 1958 | 67 | #934 | 31.6 |
| 1957 | 58 | #1,001 | 26.9 |
| 1956 | 72 | #887 | 34.0 |
| 1955 | 70 | #890 | 34.0 |
| 1954 | 74 | #848 | 36.3 |
| 1953 | 58 | #946 | 29.4 |
| 1952 | 63 | #893 | 32.4 |
| 1951 | 70 | #841 | 37.2 |
| 1950 | 43 | #1,082 | 24.0 |
| 1949 | 57 | #920 | 32.1 |
| 1948 | 51 | #984 | 29.1 |
| 1947 | 39 | #1,173 | 21.3 |
| 1946 | 43 | #1,056 | 26.5 |
| 1945 | 56 | #844 | 41.6 |
| 1944 | 35 | #1,133 | 25.7 |
| 1943 | 31 | #1,254 | 21.7 |
| 1942 | 42 | #1,050 | 30.4 |
| 1941 | 41 | #1,015 | 33.4 |
| 1940 | 39 | #1,048 | 33.6 |
| 1939 | 29 | #1,232 | 26.2 |
| 1938 | 48 | #920 | 43.3 |
| 1937 | 36 | #1,091 | 33.8 |
| 1936 | 49 | #879 | 47.2 |
| 1935 | 41 | #1,008 | 39.4 |
| 1934 | 52 | #878 | 50.4 |
| 1933 | 43 | #978 | 43.4 |
| 1932 | 43 | #1,022 | 41.2 |
| 1931 | 37 | #1,126 | 35.6 |
| 1930 | 41 | #1,092 | 37.4 |
| 1929 | 47 | #994 | 43.7 |
| 1928 | 40 | #1,121 | 36.1 |
| 1927 | 37 | #1,194 | 32.8 |
| 1926 | 36 | #1,213 | 32.4 |
| 1925 | 32 | #1,296 | 28.7 |
| 1924 | 23 | #1,668 | 20.3 |
| 1923 | 29 | #1,378 | 26.5 |
| 1922 | 16 | #2,124 | 14.7 |
| 1921 | 24 | #1,580 | 21.8 |
| 1920 | 13 | #2,431 | 12.2 |
| 1919 | 30 | #1,314 | 30.6 |
| 1918 | 25 | #1,486 | 24.7 |
| 1917 | 25 | #1,428 | 27.0 |
| 1916 | 25 | #1,411 | 28.1 |
| 1915 | 23 | #1,446 | 27.1 |
| 1914 | 14 | #1,757 | 21.4 |
| 1913 | 25 | #1,020 | 48.8 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,857 | 20.9 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Rolf a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Rolf has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 96 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Rolf: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Rolf, and how old are they?
1,630 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 53% of the 3,103 Americans ever recorded as Rolf. The median Rolf alive today is 65 years old; half are between 56 and 72.
The 2020 Census counted 3,380 people named Rolf (4 women and girls, 3,376 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,859 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.8 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 143 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 847 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 440 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 128 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 37 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 35 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
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 Rolf born?
The states with the most babies named Rolf are New York, Minnesota and California, with 74% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Minnesota is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 377 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Minnesota | 247 | not ranked | 3.7× |
| California | 226 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 133 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Wisconsin | 63 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Washington | 24 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Michigan | 22 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Massachusetts | 17 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 17 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| New Jersey | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Rolf is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Rolf is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1912 it was given 3.7 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 Rolf with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Rolf
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 Rolf and names like it
- Compare Rolf and AlfonzaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sRolf peaked in 1960.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Rolf since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Rolf: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Rolf.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Rolf alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with RMost given first.