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 [ 2 syll. ru-dol-(p)(h), rud-o-lph ] The boy name Rudolph is pronounced RUWDaoLF or RUWDaoF KEY. Rudolph is of Germanic origin and it is used mainly in English. The name Rudolph means 'famous wolf'. Two-element name from hruod and wulf with the meanings 'fame' and 'wolf' respectively. Hrodwulf (Germanic), Hruodolf (Germanic), and Rudolphus (Latinized) are old forms of the name. The name is derived form Rudolphus, itself Latinized from the Germanic Hruodolf. As a family name, it was borne by many members in the ruling house of Habsburg, such as Rudolph I (1218-1291), and Holy Roman Emperors such as Rudolf II (1552-1612). It was first introduced to England from Germany in the 19th century, and popularized by Anthony Hope's successful adventure tales The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and Rupert of Hentzau (1898), which feature a main character named Rudolf. The name later received another popularity boost from the fame of the Italian silent-movie actor and pop icon Rudolph Valentino (Rodolfo d'Antonguolla, 1895-1926). It was later brought to public attention by the Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), which has probably not increased the adoption of the name. Rudolph is a widely used name; it has 33 variants that are used in both English and foreign languages. English variants of the name include Ralph (also used in German), Rodolph, Rolf (also used in German and Scandinavian), Rolfe (also used in Scandinavian), Rollo, Rolo (also used in Spanish), Rolph (also used in Scandinavian), and Rudie. Other English variants include the short forms Dolf (also used in German, and Scandinavian), Dolph, and Dolphus, and the pet form Rudy (also used in Spanish). Variants of Rudolph used in foreign languages include Dodek (Polish), Dolfe (Slavic), Dolfi (Slavic), Rezso (Hungarian), Rodolf (Dutch and German), Rodolfo (Italian and Spanish), Rodolphe (French), Roelof (Dutch), Ruda (Czech), Rude (Slavic), Rudek (Czech and Polish), Rudolfo (Italian and Spanish), Rudolfs (Latvian), Rudolphe (French), Ruedi (German), Rufo (Spanish), Ruodi (German), and Rutz (German). The short form Ruud (Dutch), and the pet form Rudi (German, Hungarian, Slavic, and Spanish) are other foreign variants. Rudolph is an English spelling variant of Rudolf (Czech, Dutch, English, German, Polish, and Scandinavian). Rudolph is rare as a baby boy name. At the modest peak of its usage in 1927, 0.145% of baby boys were named Rudolph. It had a ranking of #111 then. The baby name has fallen out of favor since then, and is of only sporadic use now. Out of the family of boy names directly related to Rudolph, Rudy (English and Spanish) was the most popular in 2008. Baby names that sound like Rudolph include Rodolf (Dutch and German), Rodolph (English), Rudolf (Czech, Dutch, English, German, Polish, and Scandinavian), Rodolfo (Italian and Spanish), Rodolphe (French), Rudolfo (Italian and Spanish), and Rudolphe (French). KEY: Pronunciation for Rudolph: R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; UW as in "two (T.UW)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; AO as in "ought (AO.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; UW as in "two (T.UW)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; AO as in "ought (AO.T)" ; F as in "fee (F.IY)"   |
