Find out how popular the last name Adolphus is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Adolphus.

Adolphus, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Adolphus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Adolphus in America

Adolphus is the 49824th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Adolphus surname appeared 421 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Adolphus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Adolphus to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Adolphus

The surname Adolphus is of German origin, emerging in the medieval period. It derives from the Old High German name "Adalholf," composed of the elements "adal," meaning noble, and "holf," meaning helper or brave. The name was initially used as a given name but eventually transitioned into a hereditary surname.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Adolphus can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, where a nobleman named "Adolphus de Anhalt" is mentioned in the late 12th century. This suggests that the name was already in use as a surname among the aristocracy of the region.

The name Adolphus gained prominence during the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Adolphus of Nassau, who ruled from 1292 to 1298. His coronation as King of the Romans in 1292 likely contributed to the wider dissemination of the name throughout the German territories.

In England, the surname Adolphus can be traced back to the 16th century, when it was likely introduced by German immigrants or through marriage alliances with German nobility. One notable early bearer of the name was Sir Adolphus Oughton (1536-1599), an English soldier and Member of Parliament.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Adolphus, including:

1. Johann Adolphus (1766-1845), a German theologian and philologist known for his contributions to the study of ancient Greek literature.
2. John Adolphus (1768-1845), an English barrister and historian who wrote biographies of several British monarchs.
3. Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), a member of the British royal family and a field marshal in the British Army.
4. Adolphus Busch (1839-1913), a German-American brewer and co-founder of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company.
5. Adolphus Washington Greely (1844-1935), an American Arctic explorer and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his leadership during the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition.

The name Adolphus has also been associated with various place names, such as Adolphtown (now Adultstown) in County Wicklow, Ireland, which was named after Adolphus Oughton, the previously mentioned English soldier and MP.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Adolphus

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Adolphus.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Adolphus was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Adolphus has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Adolphus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Adolphus, please contact us.

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