Rudolf
Rudolf was last recorded in 2024, when 6 babies were given it; 2,951 Americans have been recorded with it between 1882 and 2024 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,120 Americans named Rudolf and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (38% of everyone recorded); the median is 59 years old and half are between 39 and 72.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Rudolf by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Rudolf mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Rudolf is “a male given name from Czech or German, equivalent to English Rudolph.”
Borrowed from Czech Rudolf and German Rudolf.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Rudolf?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #12,075, in 2024; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
82 babies in 1927, the peak
Rudolf peaked in 1927, when 82 boys were given it, #720 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6 | #12,075 | 3.5 |
| 2023 | 6 | #11,972 | 3.5 |
| 2022 | 8 | #9,663 | 4.6 |
| 2021 | 5 | #13,704 | 2.9 |
| 2020 | 8 | #9,390 | 4.6 |
| 2019 | 7 | #10,587 | 3.9 |
| 2018 | 8 | #9,496 | 4.4 |
| 2017 | 8 | #9,520 | 4.3 |
| 2016 | 7 | #10,518 | 3.7 |
| 2013 | 5 | #13,678 | 2.6 |
Every recorded year (123)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6 | #11,906 | 3.1 |
| 2009 | 6 | #12,177 | 3.0 |
| 2008 | 8 | #9,683 | 3.9 |
| 2007 | 8 | #9,587 | 3.9 |
| 2006 | 5 | #13,617 | 2.4 |
| 2005 | 10 | #7,537 | 5.0 |
| 2004 | 8 | #8,760 | 4.0 |
| 2003 | 5 | #12,386 | 2.5 |
| 2002 | 11 | #6,433 | 5.7 |
| 2000 | 8 | #8,049 | 4.1 |
| 1999 | 12 | #5,580 | 6.2 |
| 1998 | 14 | #4,819 | 7.3 |
| 1997 | 8 | #7,142 | 4.2 |
| 1996 | 10 | #5,879 | 5.3 |
| 1995 | 8 | #6,856 | 4.2 |
| 1994 | 12 | #5,053 | 6.2 |
| 1993 | 9 | #6,122 | 4.6 |
| 1992 | 11 | #5,170 | 5.5 |
| 1991 | 11 | #5,024 | 5.4 |
| 1990 | 9 | #5,720 | 4.4 |
| 1989 | 16 | #3,582 | 8.0 |
| 1988 | 14 | #3,667 | 7.3 |
| 1987 | 16 | #3,167 | 8.6 |
| 1986 | 12 | #3,832 | 6.5 |
| 1985 | 11 | #3,995 | 6.0 |
| 1984 | 13 | #3,410 | 7.2 |
| 1983 | 16 | #2,887 | 8.9 |
| 1982 | 8 | #4,918 | 4.4 |
| 1981 | 12 | #3,569 | 6.7 |
| 1980 | 19 | #2,600 | 10.7 |
| 1979 | 22 | #2,296 | 12.8 |
| 1978 | 17 | #2,648 | 10.4 |
| 1977 | 17 | #2,639 | 10.3 |
| 1976 | 7 | #4,830 | 4.5 |
| 1975 | 15 | #2,731 | 9.6 |
| 1974 | 9 | #3,770 | 5.7 |
| 1973 | 16 | #2,486 | 10.3 |
| 1972 | 20 | #2,065 | 12.3 |
| 1971 | 25 | #1,816 | 14.1 |
| 1970 | 25 | #1,785 | 13.5 |
| 1969 | 14 | #2,398 | 7.8 |
| 1968 | 23 | #1,685 | 13.2 |
| 1967 | 19 | #1,842 | 10.9 |
| 1966 | 16 | #2,027 | 9.0 |
| 1965 | 22 | #1,712 | 11.8 |
| 1964 | 18 | #1,961 | 9.0 |
| 1963 | 31 | #1,419 | 15.3 |
| 1962 | 32 | #1,401 | 15.5 |
| 1961 | 28 | #1,545 | 13.2 |
| 1960 | 18 | #1,963 | 8.4 |
| 1959 | 26 | #1,581 | 12.2 |
| 1958 | 39 | #1,250 | 18.4 |
| 1957 | 36 | #1,315 | 16.7 |
| 1956 | 30 | #1,437 | 14.2 |
| 1955 | 31 | #1,391 | 15.0 |
| 1954 | 36 | #1,264 | 17.7 |
| 1953 | 33 | #1,325 | 16.7 |
| 1952 | 47 | #1,064 | 24.2 |
| 1951 | 30 | #1,369 | 15.9 |
| 1950 | 41 | #1,120 | 22.9 |
| 1949 | 34 | #1,249 | 19.2 |
| 1948 | 29 | #1,375 | 16.5 |
| 1947 | 29 | #1,389 | 15.9 |
| 1946 | 24 | #1,466 | 14.8 |
| 1945 | 33 | #1,158 | 24.5 |
| 1944 | 25 | #1,360 | 18.3 |
| 1943 | 27 | #1,360 | 18.9 |
| 1942 | 44 | #1,021 | 31.9 |
| 1941 | 43 | #985 | 35.0 |
| 1940 | 35 | #1,126 | 30.2 |
| 1939 | 35 | #1,100 | 31.6 |
| 1938 | 36 | #1,092 | 32.5 |
| 1937 | 37 | #1,070 | 34.7 |
| 1936 | 40 | #1,008 | 38.6 |
| 1935 | 34 | #1,145 | 32.6 |
| 1934 | 41 | #1,020 | 39.7 |
| 1933 | 34 | #1,142 | 34.3 |
| 1932 | 46 | #977 | 44.1 |
| 1931 | 49 | #937 | 47.1 |
| 1930 | 67 | #792 | 61.1 |
| 1929 | 68 | #787 | 63.2 |
| 1928 | 73 | #762 | 65.9 |
| 1927 | 82 | #720 | 72.8 |
| 1926 | 66 | #820 | 59.4 |
| 1925 | 55 | #913 | 49.3 |
| 1924 | 49 | #1,016 | 43.3 |
| 1923 | 62 | #869 | 56.6 |
| 1922 | 49 | #1,018 | 45.0 |
| 1921 | 39 | #1,155 | 35.4 |
| 1920 | 42 | #1,107 | 39.5 |
| 1919 | 49 | #970 | 50.0 |
| 1918 | 51 | #937 | 50.3 |
| 1917 | 55 | #862 | 59.4 |
| 1916 | 70 | #723 | 78.6 |
| 1915 | 65 | #748 | 76.6 |
| 1914 | 39 | #882 | 59.6 |
| 1913 | 21 | #1,142 | 41.0 |
| 1912 | 31 | #795 | 72.1 |
| 1911 | 18 | #788 | 79.7 |
| 1910 | 8 | #1,289 | 41.2 |
| 1909 | 14 | #800 | 85.4 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,347 | 38.9 |
| 1907 | 8 | #1,077 | 54.5 |
| 1906 | 8 | #985 | 60.1 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,393 | 37.8 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,181 | 46.8 |
| 1903 | 10 | #770 | 83.9 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,287 | 40.8 |
| 1898 | 7 | #978 | 57.1 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,238 | 41.8 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,226 | 41.0 |
| 1887 | 6 | #899 | 59.2 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,066 | 44.0 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Rudolf a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Rudolf has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 123 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Rudolf: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Rudolf, and how old are they?
1,120 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 38% of the 2,951 Americans ever recorded as Rudolf. The median Rudolf alive today is 59 years old; half are between 39 and 72.
The 2020 Census counted 3,065 people named Rudolf (4 women and girls, 3,061 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,282 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.4 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 | 125 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 388 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 252 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 178 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 107 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 68 |
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 Rudolf born?
The states with the most babies named Rudolf are New York, California and Texas, with 81% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 473 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| California | 147 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Texas | 139 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 64 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| New Jersey | 35 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Pennsylvania | 35 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Ohio | 23 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Wisconsin | 17 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Massachusetts | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Rudolf is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Rudolf is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 1.9 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 Rudolf 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 56,589 babies since 1880, Rudolf is the second most given (5.2% of them). In 2025 none of their 25 babies recorded by SSA was a Rudolf (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
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 Rudolf
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 Rudolf and names like it
- Compare Rudolf and RudolphBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sRudolf peaked in 1927.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Rudolf since 1910.
- Czech namesWiktionary’s origin for Rudolf: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1927The year the most babies were named Rudolf.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Rudolf alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with RMost given first.