Skip to content

The surname Rolf

A patronymic surname, carried by 2,409 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ɹɒlf/ 1 syllable Soundex R410 Also a first name

Rolf: #12,802 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Rolf #12,802, 2,409 people Rolf: #12,802 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Rolf #12,802, 2,409 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rolf is more common than 92.1% of them.

Origin

From Old Norse Hrólfr, and from its Old French equivalent, cognates of Rudolph. Brought to England by the Normans, survived in surnames and was revived in the 19th century, partly due to its modern Scandinavian cognate.

Rolf is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 2,409 people named Rolf in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 128,163 Americans. That is up 1.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,384.

#12,802
rank among US surnames
2,409
people in 2010
0.8
per 100,000 Americans
+1%
change since 2000 (was #12,022)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#12,794Scalzo2,411128,057
#12,795Schueller2,410128,110
#12,802Tanguay2,409128,163
#12,807Loose2,408128,217

Who is named Rolf

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

94% of people named Rolf identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 94%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 2.2%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
  • Two or more races 0.8%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Rolfs

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Ida Rolf
    American biochemist, creator of Structural Integration (Rolfing) (1896–1979)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rolf

Rolf has the Soundex code R410, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R410.

Questions

Where does the surname Rolf come from?
From Old Norse Hrólfr, and from its Old French equivalent, cognates of Rudolph. Brought to England by the Normans, survived in surnames and was revived in the 19th century, partly due to its modern Scandinavian cognate.
How common is the surname Rolf?
2,409 people in the United States had the surname Rolf in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 128,163 Americans. It ranked 12,802nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rolf?
In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Rolf identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Rolf?
Ida Rolf, American biochemist, creator of Structural Integration (Rolfing) (1896–1979).
Where is the surname Rolf most common?
Wikidata records people named Rolf in the United States.
How do you pronounce Rolf?
Rolf is /ɹɒlf/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Rolf?
Rolf is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Rolf getting more or less common?
More common. 2,384 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,409 in 2010, up 1.0%.
Is Rolf also a first name?
Yes. Rolf is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.