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

Rolf, 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 Rolf surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rolf in America

Rolf is the 12802nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rolf surname appeared 2,409 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Rolf.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rolf 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 Rolf

The surname Rolf has its origins in medieval Germany, where it first emerged in the 12th century. It is a variant of the Germanic personal name Rudolf, which is derived from the Old High German words "hruod" meaning "fame" and "wolf" meaning "wolf."

The earliest known recorded instance of the surname Rolf dates back to 1195 in the town of Münster, where a merchant named Herman Rolf was mentioned in a local document. During this period, the name was also found in various forms such as Rolff, Rolfe, and Rolph.

In the 13th century, the name Rolf appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that individuals with this surname may have migrated to England from Germany during the Norman conquest.

One notable figure bearing the surname Rolf was Sir John Rolf, a wealthy merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in London during the 16th century. He was born in 1525 and played a significant role in establishing trade links between England and the Hanseatic League, a powerful economic alliance of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern Europe.

In the 17th century, the Rolf family was prominent in the American colonies. John Rolf, born in 1585, was among the early settlers of the Virginia Colony and married Pocahontas, the daughter of the Native American chief Powhatan, in 1614. This interracial marriage was seen as an important step in fostering peaceful relations between the English colonists and the local indigenous tribes.

Another notable individual with the surname Rolf was Alfred Rolf, a German-American architect born in 1873. He is best known for his work in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, including the design of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, completed in 1910.

Throughout history, the surname Rolf has also been associated with various place names, such as Rolfshagen in Germany and Rolfston in England, reflecting the migration patterns and settlements of families bearing this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rolf

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

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 Rolf 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 Rolf 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 Rolf was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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