Olaf - Origin and Meaning of the name

The boy name Olaf [ 2 syll. o-laf, ol-af ] is pronounced as OWLaaF ^KEY. Olaf is used chiefly in the English, German, and Scandinavian languages. It is derived from Old Norse origins. The meaning of Olaf is family descendant. Two-element name developed from the words 'anu' + 'leifr' which mean ancestor + heir, descendent respectively. The name is derived from the Old Norse 'anleifr' meaning 'family descendant', which is comprised of the elements 'anu' and 'leifr'. It was borne by several Scandinavian kings, most notably Olaf Haraldsson (995-1030), who was later canonized as Saint Olaf. The name has long been used in Scandinavian countries. It was introduced intto England by the Vikings before the Norman conquest, and later saw a revival in the 19th century from Scandinavian immigrants in the USA.

Aulay (Scottish), Ola (Scandinavian), Olav (Scandinavian), Olave (Scandinavian), Olavi (Finnish), Olle (Scandinavian), Olof (Scandinavian), Olov (Scandinavian), and Oluf (Scandinavian) are variant forms of Olaf. Ole (short form in German and Scandinavian) is another variant of Olaf.

Olaf is uncommon as a baby boy name. At the height of its usage in 1908, 0.014% of baby boys were given the name Olaf. It was #533 in rank then. The baby name has markedly declined in popularity since then, and is today of very modest use. Within all boy names in its family, Olaf was nonetheless the most widely used in 2007.

Baby names that sound like Olaf include Olav (Scandinavian), Olave (Scandinavian), Olof (Scandinavian), Olavi (Finnish), and Olivier (French).

^KEY: Pronunciation for Olaf: OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)"

Popularity Trend
for Olaf
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Olaf
in 2007