Rudolf
A Germanic name derived from Old High German "rad" meaning "counsel" and "wolf" meaning "wolf."
Name Census estimates that about 1,258 living Americans carry the first name Rudolf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rudolf today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rudolf births was 1927 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rudolf. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rudolf with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 272,460 Americans
Peak year
1927
82 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,029
Tracked since 1882
Census
Rudolf in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,069 people with the first name Rudolf, which placed it at #5,550 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
#5,550
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,069 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rudolf
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rudolf is White at 80.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.8%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Rudolf 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 Rudolf at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.7% · 2,477
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 240
- Black or African American5.0% · 152
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 121
- Two or more races2.4% · 75
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Popularity
Rudolf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rudolf 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 585 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
Rudolf 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 Rudolf during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rudolfs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Rudolf, while Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 104 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rudolf
The name Rudolf is of Germanic origin and can be traced back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German words "hruod" meaning "fame" and "wolf" meaning "wolf." Together, the name Rudolf signifies "famous wolf" or "wolf of renown."
One of the earliest records of the name Rudolf dates back to the 7th century, when a Frankish nobleman named Rudolf von Remiremont was mentioned in historical chronicles. The name gained prominence in the 9th century when Rudolf I became the first King of France from the Carolingian dynasty.
In the 10th century, Rudolf I of Burgundy ruled as the King of Upper Burgundy from 888 to 912 AD. Around the same time, Rudolf II of Burgundy, also known as Rudolf the Bald, was the King of Upper Burgundy from 912 to 937 AD.
The name Rudolf gained widespread recognition in the 13th century with the birth of Rudolf I of Habsburg (1218-1291), who became the King of the Romans and the first Habsburg ruler to preside over the Holy Roman Empire.
Another notable figure in history was Rudolf II (1552-1612), who was the Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary, known for his patronage of the arts and sciences during the Renaissance period.
In the 19th century, Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), a German doctor and anthropologist, made significant contributions to the field of pathology and is considered one of the founders of modern pathology.
Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), a German inventor and mechanical engineer, is famous for his invention of the diesel engine, which revolutionized the transportation industry and continues to be widely used today.
Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993), a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, was one of the most celebrated male ballet dancers of the 20th century and is renowned for his exceptional technique and artistry.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rudolf
People
Rudolf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rudolf 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
Rudolf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rudolf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,258 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rudolf 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 272,460 US residents.
Is Rudolf a common name?
We classify Rudolf as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,951 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rudolf most popular?
The single biggest year for Rudolf was 1927, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rudolf is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rudolf in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,069 people with the name Rudolf, or 1.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,550 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 Rudolf 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 Rudolf?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rudolf appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,065 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Rudolf?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rudolf is White at 80.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.8%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Rudolf most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rudolf in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.7% (2,477 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 Rudolf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rudolf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rudolf 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 Rudolf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rudolf 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 Rudolf 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 have the name Rudolf?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.