Ralph
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "counsel" or "wolf."
Name Census estimates that about 156,968 living Americans carry the first name Ralph. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ralph today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ralph births was 1921 (8,902 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ralph. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Ralph is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,840 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Ralph is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ralphs were born before 1968.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Ralph have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
157K
~ 1 in 2,184 Americans
Peak year
1921
8,902 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,152
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Ralph
Out of the 415,639 babies given the name Ralph since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Ralph as a male name
- Ranked #1,152 in 2024
- 182 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (8,860 births)
Ralph as a female name
- Ranked #14,641 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1927 (59 births)
Popularity
Ralph: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ralph from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 84,952 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ralph 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 Ralph during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ralphs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Ralph, while Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7,658 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ralph
The name Ralph has its origins in the Old Norse language and means "counsel" or "wolf". It is derived from the Old Norse words "ráð" (counsel) and "ulfr" (wolf). The name was popular among the Vikings and Scandinavian settlers who brought it to Britain and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages.
Ralph was a relatively common name in medieval England, appearing in various historical records and documents from the 11th century onwards. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions several individuals named Ralph.
The name has been borne by several notable historical figures throughout the centuries. One of the most famous was Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (c. 1364-1425), an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. Another was Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), the renowned American essayist, philosopher, and poet who was a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement.
Other notable individuals named Ralph include Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), the English composer known for his works such as "The Lark Ascending" and "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis"; Ralph Ellison (1914-1994), the African American novelist and literary critic best known for his novel "Invisible Man"; and Ralph Fiennes (born 1962), the British actor celebrated for his performances in films like "Schindler's List" and "The English Patient".
While the name Ralph has its roots in Old Norse and medieval England, it has also been used in other cultures and languages. For example, in German, the name is spelled "Ralf" or "Rolph", while in Dutch it is "Ralf" or "Raaf". In Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Norway, the name retains its original Old Norse form of "Ráðulfr".
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ralph
People
Ralph + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ralph as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ralph: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ralph?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 156,968 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ralph 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 2,184 US residents.
Is Ralph a common name?
We classify Ralph as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 415,639 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ralph most popular?
The single biggest year for Ralph was 1921, when 8,902 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ralph is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ralph a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Ralph 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.
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.