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[ 1 syll. ral-(p)(h), ra-l-ph ] The boy name Ralph is pronounced as RAELF †. Ralph is used chiefly in the English and German languages, and its origin is Germanic. The name's meaning is wise and strong. Two-element name from the elements 'rad' meaning counsel, advice ; 'wulf' meaning wolf. Radolf (Germanic), Radulf (Germanic), Raedwulf (Old English), and Rathulfr (Old Norse) are original forms of Ralph. The old forms Radulf and Raedwulf existed before the Norman Conquest. Ralf developed as a short form of Radulf in the medieval times, when the forms Ralf and Rauf were most popular. In the 17th century Rafe was the most widely used, but it was overtaken by the modern form Ralph in the 18th century, the '-ph' spelling derived from Greek classical influence. In addition, Ralph is a variant of the name Rudolph (English) in the German language. The name Ralphina (English) is the female form of Ralph. Ralph has 19 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants used in English include Rafe, Raff, Raffy, Rolf (used in German and Scandinavian as well), Rolfe (used in Scandinavian as well), and Rolph (used in Scandinavian as well). The pet form Ralphie, and the variant spelling Ralf (used in German, Hungarian, and Scandinavian as well) are other English forms. Foreign variants of Ralph include Radolphus, Ralston, Raol (Spanish), Raoul (French and Spanish), Raul (German, Italian, and Spanish), Raulio (Spanish), Raulo (Lithuanian and Italian), Raúl (Spanish), Rolle (Scandinavian), Rolphe, and Rulo (Spanish). Ralph is a classic favorite. At present it is still somewhat popular as a baby name for boys, though to a lesser extent than it was in the past. Its usage peaked in 1921 with 0.778% of baby boys being given the name Ralph. It ranked at #23 then. The baby name has since markedly declined in popularity, and is in recent years of occasional use. In 2008, its usage was only 0.011% and its ranking #868. Among the group of boy names directly linked to Ralph, Raul was the most frequently used. In 2008, it was used 5 times more than Ralph. Ralph has mostly been a boy name, though in the past century it has also been used for girls. In 1929, the name Ralph was given to 137 times as many boys than girls. Baby names that sound like Ralph include Ralf (English, German, Hungarian, and Scandinavian), Rolf (English, German, and Scandinavian), Rolfe (English and Scandinavian), Rolph (English and Scandinavian), Roelof (Dutch), Rolphe, and Ralphie (English). Details of famous persons named Ralph:
† Pronunciation for Ralph: R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)"   |
