Rudolf
A Germanic name meaning "famous wolf". Fewer than 5,000 men in Poland carry it, so most people here have never met one, though the last few years have brought a small handful of newborns back.
Rudolf Pronunciation
Rudolf is pronounced ROO-dolf (/ˈrudɔlf/).
What Rudolf means
Where Rudolf comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Rudolf is built from two old Germanic pieces, hrod, meaning fame, and wolf, the animal. Together they give the meaning that trails the name wherever it goes: famous wolf. The wolf element shows up across Germanic naming, in Wolfgang and Adolf as well. Rudolf reached Poland by way of German, and that coloring held for a long time.
History handed the name to people you can look up. Rudolf Diesel patented the engine that still carries his surname. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria left a darker mark on the Habsburg record, dying at Mayerling in 1889.
The root can pass to a daughter, too, in the form Rudolfina. Picture a teacher reading a class register and pausing at it, one Rudolf among the Jakubs and Piotrs. The meaning stays plain: famous wolf.
When Rudolf celebrates name day
Rudolf appears 5 times in the Polish name day calendar, never as a main name. The first of these dates is 21 June.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Rudolf
1 in 4390 men in Poland is named Rudolf. 4,862 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #494 among male names.
Rudolf's popularity over time
3 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1342 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2024. Still the #494 name among living men, even as it slips to #1342 among newborns.
Where Rudolf is most popular
Rudolf is most popular in Masovian, 510% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025).
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Masovian2 boys born+510%
Rudolf as a middle name
Rudolf is a first name for 4,862 men in Poland and a middle name for another 3,742, a 57/43 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 139th, between Hieronim (3,760) and Gustaw (3,718).
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#137 Emanuel3,783
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#138 Hieronim3,760
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#139 Rudolf3,742
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#140 Gustaw3,718
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#141 Olaf3,699