Adolf
Around 2,400 Polish men still carry it, yet not one boy has been given it since at least 2000. Germanic at root, from words for "noble wolf".
Adolf Pronunciation
Adolf is pronounced AH-dolf (/ˈadɔlf/).
What Adolf means
Where Adolf comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Adolf grew out of Old High German, from adal, meaning noble, bound to wolf. The older form was Athalwolf, and it named the noble wolf. German-speaking Europe kept it in use for a long stretch. Adolf of Nassau was elected King of the Germans in 1292, a sign of how high the name once reached.
Then the twentieth century changed everything about it. After 1945 the name nearly vanished from birth registers across the continent, pulled down by a single bearer. In Poland today a child called Adolf would draw a second glance in any class register. The Germanic roots held while the world around them moved.
It keeps no soft diminutive. What survives is the plain compound underneath: adal and wolf, noble and wolf.
How many people are named Adolf
1 in 8917 men in Poland is named Adolf. 2,394 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #653 among male names.
Adolf as a middle name
Adolf is a first name for 2,394 men in Poland and a middle name for another 2,153, a 53/47 split — almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 171st, between Alfons (2,185) and Amadeusz (2,150).
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169
2,269Jędrzej
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170
2,185Alfons
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1712,153Adolf
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172
2,150Amadeusz
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173
2,150Thomas
When Adolf celebrates name day
Adolf appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar. The main date is 17 June.