Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins.
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).
Due to its extremely negative associations with the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the name has greatly declined in popularity since the end of World War II.
Similar names include Lithuanian Adolfas and Latvian Ādolfs. The female forms Adolphine and Adolpha are far more rare than the male names.
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Popularity and usage
Before the 20th-century, Adolf was a relatively common name for baby boys in German-speaking countries and to a lesser extent also in French-speaking regions of Europe (spelled as Adolphe in France). After Adolf Hitler came to power in Nazi Germany, the name became more fashionable in German-speaking Europe until the early 1940s. However, after the defeat of Germany, and the revelations about the atrocities of the Nazi regime, the negative associations with Hitler meant that the name has declined in use as a given name for males to the extent of statistical irrelevance, though some Germans continue using the name due to family tradition. Adolf Dassler (1900-1978), the founder of Adidas, preferred to use his nickname, 'Adi', in his professional life and for the name of his company.
Similarly, the French version, Adolphe, previously a fairly common name in France and the name of a classic novel by Benjamin Constant, has virtually disappeared, as has the Italian version Adolfo. In Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière’s 2010 play What's in a Name?, and its 2012 film adaptation, a couple pranks their dinner guests by announcing that they will name their unborn child Adolphe, in homage to Constant’s novel, which backfires and starts a series of arguments. However, the Spanish and Portuguese version, Adolfo, has not become stigmatised in the same way and is still in common use.
Monarchs and nobles
Ealdwulf of East Anglia (c. 634 – 713), King of East Anglia
Adulf mcEtulfe (died 934), King of Bamburgh
Eadwulf Evil-child (fl. 968–970), ruler of Bamburgh
Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (1710–1771)
Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1817–1893)
Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1883–1936)
Adolf of Altena (1157–1220), Archbishop of Cologne
Adolf of Nassau (1540–1568), Count of Nassau, brother of William the Silent
Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1300–1327)
Adolf, Duke of Bavaria (1434–1441)
Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (1526–1586)
Adolf, Duke of Jülich-Berg (1370–1437)
Adolf, King of the Romans (1255–1298), King of Germany
Adolph I, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (d. 1473)
Adolph II, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1458–1526)
Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1817–1905)
Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge (1868–1927)
Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1658–1708)
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
Adolf Albin (1848–1920), Romanian chess player
Adolf Althoff (1913–1998), German circus owner
Adolf Anderssen (1818–1879), German chess player
Adolf Appellöf (1857–1921), Swedish zoologist
Gustav Badin né Adolf Ludvig Gustav Fredrik Albert Couchi (1747/1750 – 1822), Swedish court servant
Adolf von Baeyer (1835–1917), German chemist who synthesised indigo and developed a nomenclature for cyclic compounds
Adolf Bastian (1826–1905), German anthropologist
Adolf Bauer (1940–2026), German politician
Adolf Beck (1863–1942), Polish physician and pioneer of electroencephalography
Adolf Beck case (1841–1909), Norwegian whose mistaken identity led to court of criminal appeal
Adolf van den Berg (1978–2023), South African cricketer
Adolf A. Berle (1895–1971), American lawyer, educator, author, and diplomat
Ādolfs Bļodnieks (1889–1962), 9th Prime Minister of Latvia
Adolf Bniński (1884–1942), Polish agricultural, conservative, and royalist activist
Adolf Born (1930–2016), Czech artist and filmmaker
Adolf Brand (1874–1945), German journalist
Adolfas
Adolfas Ramanauskas (1918–1957), American born Lithuanian partisan
Adolfas Valeška (1905–1994), Lithuanian-American artist
Adolfo
Adolfo Aldana (born 1966), Spanish footballer
Adolfo Aristarain (1943–2026), Argentine film director and screenwriter
Adolfo Baines (born 1972), Spanish footballer
Adolfo Battaglia (born 1930), Italian journalist and politician
Adolfo Bautista (born 1979), Mexican footballer
Adolfo Bruno (1945–2003), a.k.a. "Big Al", Italian-American mobster
Adolfo Camarillo (1864–1958), American businessman, ranchero, philanthropist, co-founder of the city of Camarillo, California
Adolfo Carrión Jr. (born 1961), served for seven years as borough president of the Bronx
Adolfo Celi (1922–1986), Italian actor and director
Adolfo Constanzo (1962–1989), American serial killer, drug trafficker, and cult leader
Adolfo Correia da Rocha (1907–1995), Portuguese writer and otolaryngologist
Adolfo Schwelm Cruz (1923–2012), Argentine racing driver
Adolfo de la Huerta (1881–1955), President of Mexico in 1920
Adolfo Domínguez (born 1950), Spanish fashion designer
Adolfo Domínguez Gerardo (born 1991), Mexican footballer
Adolfo Gaich (born 1999), Argentine footballer
Adolph
Adolph Achille Gereau (1893–1994), Virgin Islands civil servant and founder of V.I. Republicans