Adolf

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"Adolphus" redirects here. For the Australian brigantine, see Adolphus (1852).
For other uses, see Adolf (disambiguation).

Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and to a lesser extent in various Central European and East European countries with non-Germanic languages, such as Lithuanian Adolfas and Latvian Ādolfs. Adolphus can also appear as a surname, as in John Adolphus, the English historian. The female forms Adolphine and Adolpha are far more rare than the male ones.

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).

Adolf
Siegel Adolf von Nassau Posse.JPG
King Adolf of Germany
PronunciationGerman pronunciation: [ˈaːdɔlf]
GenderMale
Language(s)German, French, Italian, Spanish, Welsh, Portuguese
Origin
MeaningNoble wolf, Wolf power or Bright wolf
Other names
Variant form(s)Adi (nickname), Addie (nickname), Ady (nickname), Addy (nickname), Alf (short), Alfie (nickname), Adolff, Adolph, Adolphe, Ādolfs, Adolphus, Adolfo, Aatu, Dolfy (nickname), Dolphy (nickname), Adalwolf, Waldwolf

Popularity and usage[]

During the 19th and early 20th century, Adolf was a popular name for baby boys in German-speaking countries and to a lesser extent also in French-speaking countries (spelled there as Adolphe). Due to negative associations with Adolf Hitler, it has declined in popularity as a given name for males since the end of World War II.[1] After Hitler came to power, Adolf became popular again, especially in 1933-1934 and 1937. From 1942, when more and more Germans began to suspect that the war Hitler had started could end in disaster, Adolf's share of all boys' first names plummeted steadily.[2] It remains common among men born before 1945. Adolf Dassler, the founder of Adidas, used his nickname, 'Adi', in his professional life and for the name of his company.[3] After 1945, a few German people still were named Adolf due to family traditions.[4]

Similarly, the French version, Adolphe—previously a fairly common name in France and the name of a classic French novel—has virtually disappeared, along with Italian Adolfo.

However, the Spanish and Portuguese version, Adolfo, has not become stigmatised in the same way. It is still in common use in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries across the world.[5]

Monarchs and nobles[]

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[]

Adolfas[]

Adolfo[]

Adolph[]

  • Adolph Achille Gereau, Virgin Islands civil servant and founder of V.I. Republicans (1893–1994)
  • Adolph Althoff, German Circus owner (1913–1998)
  • Adolph Baller, Jewish Austrian-American pianist (1909–1994)
  • Adolph Bieberstein, American football player (1902–1981)
  • Adolph Caesar, American actor (1933–1986)
  • Adolph von Carlowitz, German army General
  • Adolph Coors, American businessman and founder of Coors Brewery (1847–1929)
  • Adolph "A.J." DeLaGarza, American footballer (1987–)
  • Adolph Deutsch, British-American composer, conductor, and arranger (1897–1980)
  • Adolph Fischer, German labor union activist (1858–1887)
  • Adolph Goldschmidt, German-Jewish art historian (1863–1944)
  • Adolph Green, Jewish-American lyricist and playwright (1914–2002)
  • Adolph Hallis, South African pianist, composer, and teacher (1896–1987)
  • Adolph Heinrich Joseph Sutro, mayor of San Francisco (1830–1898)
  • Adolph Jacobs, American guitar player (1939–2014)
  • Adolph Joffe, Russian-Jewish diplomat (1883–1927)
  • Adolph Johannes Brand, South African pianist and composer (1934–)
  • Adolph Kissell, American football player (1920–1983)
  • Adolph Kliebhan, American football player (1897–1963)
  • Adolph Koldofsky, Canadian violinist (1905–1951)
  • Adolph Kolping, German priest (1813–1865)
  • Adolph Kukulowicz, Canadian ice hockey player (1933–2008)
  • Adolf Malan, former South African rugby union footballer (1961–)
  • Adolph Malan, South African flying ace in World War II (1910–1963)
  • Adolph Marx, birth name of American comic actor Harpo Marx (1888–1961)
  • Adolph Mongo, American political strategist and commentator (1954–)
  • Adolph Ochs, American newspaper publisher (1858–1935)
  • Adolph L. Reed, Jr., professor of political science and writer (1947–)
  • Adolph Rupp, American college basketball coach (1901–1977)
  • Adolph "Dolph" Schayes, American basketball player (1928–2015)
  • Adolph G. Schwenk, American Marine general (1922–2004)
  • Adolph “Young Dolph” Thornton, American Independent Rap artist (1985-2021)
  • Adolph Tidemand, Norwegian classical romantic painter (1814–1876)
  • Adolph von Carlowitz, German army commander during the First World War (1858–1928)
  • Adolph P. Yushkevich, Russian mathematician (1906–1993)
  • Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-Jewish American film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures (1873–1976)
  • Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr., American typesetter whose actual name starts with "Adolph" (1914–1997)
  • Young Dolph, American rapper whose given name was Adolph Robert Thornton, Jr. (1985-2021)

Adolphe[]

Adolphus[]

People with the surname Adolf or Adolphus[]

  • Helen Adolf, Austrian–American linguist and literature scholar (1895–1998)
  • John Adolphus, English historian (1768–1845)
  • John Leycester Adolphus, English lawyer, jurist and author (1795–1862)

Fictional characters[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Name Adolf statistics and meaning / Vorname Adolf * Statistik und Bedeutung". Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  2. ^ "Einer war sogar beliebter als Adolf: Wie die Nazis die Namen ihrer Kinder auswählten". Focus (in German). 2018-11-23.
  3. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  4. ^ "Adolf? Im Ernst?". Der Spiegel (in German). 2017-06-22.
  5. ^ "Adolfo - Baby Boy Name Meaning and Origin | Oh Baby! Names". www.ohbabynames.com. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
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