Adolpho
A masculine name of German origin meaning "noble wolf".
Name Census estimates that about 146 living Americans carry the first name Adolpho. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Adolpho today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adolpho births was 1924 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adolpho. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
146
~ 1 in 2,347,632 Americans
Peak year
1924
9 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2005 SSA rank
#11,497
Tracked since 1920
Census
Adolpho in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 387 people with the first name Adolpho, which placed it at #24,748 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,748
National first-name rank
People counted
387
387 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adolpho
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adolpho is Hispanic at 89.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Black (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Adolpho described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Adolpho at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.1% · 345
- White6.7% · 26
- Black or African American1.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
- Two or more races1.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Popularity
Adolpho: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adolpho from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adolpho by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adolpho during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adolpho
The name Adolpho has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the Old High German name Adalvolf or Athalwolf. These names were composed of the elements "adal" meaning "noble" and "wulf" meaning "wolf". The name evolved over time, with variations like Athulfus and Athulf appearing in medieval records.
In the 9th century, Adolpho was recorded as the name of a Frankish nobleman who served under Charlemagne. This early usage suggests that the name had gained popularity among the nobility of that era. By the 11th century, the name had spread to other parts of Europe, with references found in Italian and Spanish records.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Adolpho was Adolpho de Castilla, a Spanish nobleman born in the late 12th century. He was a prominent figure during the reign of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and played a significant role in the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.
In the 14th century, Adolpho de Nápoles, an Italian nobleman and military commander, gained recognition for his service under King Robert of Naples. His exploits were documented in contemporary chronicles, further cementing the name's association with nobility and warfare.
During the Renaissance period, Adolpho Bacio, an Italian humanist scholar and poet, made significant contributions to the literary world. Born in 1495, his works celebrated the classical traditions of ancient Greece and Rome, reflecting the intellectual climate of his time.
In the 17th century, Adolpho de Vigo, a Spanish painter and engraver, gained renown for his religious and historical compositions. His artistic legacy includes numerous altarpieces and frescoes adorning churches throughout Spain.
Another notable bearer of the name was Adolpho Saxe-Weissenfels, a German prince and military commander born in 1653. He played a crucial role in the Great Northern War, serving as a Field Marshal in the army of King Charles XII of Sweden.
These examples illustrate the enduring presence of the name Adolpho across various European cultures and time periods, often associated with nobility, military prowess, and intellectual endeavors.
People
Adolpho + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adolpho as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adolpho: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adolpho?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adolpho going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,347,632 US residents.
Is Adolpho a common name?
We classify Adolpho as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adolpho most popular?
The single biggest year for Adolpho was 1924, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adolpho is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adolpho in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 387 people with the name Adolpho, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,748 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Adolpho in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Adolpho?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adolpho appears almost entirely male. Of the 391 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Adolpho?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adolpho is Hispanic at 89.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Black (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Adolpho most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Adolpho in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.1% (345 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adolpho in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adolpho a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adolpho in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Adolpho still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adolpho in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adolpho can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Adolpho?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Adolpho on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.